RARE FRAGMENT OF BELT, ATTRIBUTED TO THE... - Lot 179 - Osenat

Lot 179
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Estimation :
2000 - 3000 EUR
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Result : 2 424EUR
RARE FRAGMENT OF BELT, ATTRIBUTED TO THE... - Lot 179 - Osenat
RARE FRAGMENT OF BELT, ATTRIBUTED TO THE BELT OF KING FREDERIC II OF PRUSSIA, THE GREAT FREDERIC, COMPOSED : -of a fringe in black cotton passementerie and silver wire, intermingled. 18 cm approx. -A fringe in silver thread and silver wire trimmings, intertwined. 18 cm approx. an important fringe decorated with silver wire, six-leaf flowers and suns in lamé and golden silver wire. 18 cm. These three bangs must come from a tassel of sash and correspond to the model worn by the King. Contained in a provenance paper with old handwritten annotation in pen "This was detached from the belt worn by the great Frederick and which was brought to France after the entry of the French in Potsdam. B.E. -Collection of the academician Robert de Flers, then descent. History: After the victory of Jena, on October 14, 1806, Napoleon marched on Berlin where he entered on October 27. This was an opportunity for him to visit the tomb of the former sovereign Frederick II, who had died in 1786, and whom he admired both for his efficient management and for the solidity of his military views, particularly during the Seven Years' War. When he arrived in Potsdam on October 25, 1806, he found in the castle of Sans-Souci the sword, the belt and the great cord of the Black Eagle worn by the deceased king. He seized them, saying: "I like this better than twenty millions". He sent them to the Invalides "as a testimony to the victories of the Grande Armée and the revenge it has drawn from the disasters of Rossbach" (1757). The 19th bulletin specifies: "there was no order given in the palaces, so that one found in Potsdam the sword of the Great Frederick; the general's belt that he wore in the war of seven years and his great cord of the black eagle. Exhibited at the Invalides, the trophies probably disappeared in the fire of the trophies taken from the enemy in the courtyard of honor of the Invalides, during the night of March 30 to 31, 1814. Thus, when the Tsar's emissary asked to see the effects of the Great Frederick, he was told: "that they had been treated according to the laws of war". However the mystery remains, these relics could have been saved from destruction: the report signed by the former staff of the Invalides in 1830 if it confirms that the flags were burned, does not mention at all the insignia and the sword of the king of Prussia. Bibliography : On the fate of the relics of the Great Frederick taken in Potsdam (available online), from which many elements of our history are extracted, we will quote: Aurélien DELAHAIE-GASPALON, "Un objet du mythe napoléonien à l'épreuve des faits historiques : l'épée dut de Fréderic II dans les collections du Musée de l'Armée," Revue Napoleonica, 2021.
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