HAIR OF EMPEROR NAPOLEON IER - Lot 127

Lot n° 127
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Estimation :
3000 - 4000 EUR
Result with fees
Result : 5 330EUR
HAIR OF EMPEROR NAPOLEON IER - Lot 127
HAIR OF EMPEROR NAPOLEON IER Small lock of Emperor Napoleon I's hair. Presented under glass, in a red leather reliquary case sheathed in blue velvet, with handwritten bill in pen "Hair of Emperor Napoleon to M.Biadelli by his most humble servant Vignali." 15 x 11 x 1.5 cm. B.E. Provenance: -Abbé Paul Vignali -Given by Vignali to Louis Biadelli (1783-1846), lawyer, and his wife Maria Teresa de Casabianca (1789-1847), and subsequently descended. -Purchased by bookseller Henri Leclerc -Jean Vicaire collection, then descendants. The wick is accompanied by two documents: A letter addressed to Jean VICAIRE from bookseller Henri Leclerc on the provenance of the hair (1926) and a visiting card from Count Biadelli to Monsieur Jean Vicaire, confirming that the lock was indeed given to his great-grandmother Thérèse de Casabianca, wife of Chevalier Louis Biadelli, advisor to the Court of Bastia. Biography: Paul Vignali received the tonsure in 1807 at the age of 18, the subdiaconate in 1813, the diaconate in April 1814 and the priesthood five months later on September 24, 1814. He set sail from Bastia for Rome to continue his studies, stopping off at Portoferraio, where the deposed Emperor had been reigning for several months. Sent by Cardinal Fesch and Madame Mère, he became the Emperor's chaplain at the end of his captivity, and recovered important relics of the Emperor. Louis Biadelli took part in the restoration of the Empire in March 1815, joining the Bivinco camp and commanding the Bastia national guard during the Hundred Days. During the Second Restoration, he was imprisoned at Fort La Malgue (Toulon). A liberal lawyer, he became a magistrate under the July monarchy, being appointed examining magistrate in Toulon in 1836, then councillor at the Bastia Court of Appeal in 1842. Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur.
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