Superb Élisa BONAPARTE notebook presented to - Lot 260

Lot n° 260
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Estimation :
6000 - 8000 EUR
Result with fees
Result : 13 000EUR
Superb Élisa BONAPARTE notebook presented to - Lot 260
Superb Élisa BONAPARTE notebook presented to Catherine de WURTEMBERG. In green morocco, adorned with a round enamel miniature of Élisa BONAPARTE in the manner of Raphael's "La Vierge à la chaise" (1513, Palazzo Pitti). In a gold frame, chased with palmettes and girdled with small flowers. Above, a cut-out gold cartouche engraved with "Elisa" on an amati background. To the left, a cut-out gold cartouche engraved "Jérôme" on an amatized ground. On the right, a cut-out gold cartouche engraved with "Napoléon" on an amatized background. Below, a fourth gold cartouche bears an acrostic of colored stones on an amati background forming Catherine's name (Chalcedony, Amethyst, Topaz, Heliodore, Emerald, Ruby, Iolite, Mother-of-Pearl, Emerald). Three corners are protected by radiating gold spandrels (the fourth is missing). Six-ring clasp for mechanical pencil. Sliding gold mechanical pencil with grooved ring. Open, it is sheathed in beige silk and features two gusseted pockets and a twenty-page notebook. The first page bears the handwritten annotation "Donné par ma bien aimée sœur Élisa le 24 août 1814 jour de la naissance de mon fils Jérôme et dix jours après celle de mon cher neveu". T.B.E. First Empire period. Diameter of miniature: 55 mm. Notebook: 115 x 88 mm. Mechanical pencil: open length: 195 mm, closed length: 117 mm. Gross weight with mechanical pencil: 102.12g. Weight of mechanical pencil alone: 6.97g. Carries the aluminum pastille from the collections of Prince Victor NAPOLEON stamped "834". Provenance : -Prince Victor NAPOLEON Collection (n°834) -Prince Louis NAPOLEON Collection -Charles BONAPARTE, Princess Catherine NAPOLEON and Princess Laure NAPOLEON -Acquired by Countess Viviane de WITT (2003). The inscription is in Catherine's hand, referring to Élisa as her sister and to the birth of Jérôme Bonaparte, her eldest son, born 14 days apart from Élisa's last child, Frédéric-Napoléon Bacciochi. Acrostics were very fashionable under the Empire, with precious bracelets made for Empress Josephine, Empress Marie-Louise and other members of the imperial family. According to the typed inventory book of the Prince Victor Napoléon collection, n°834 is described as follows: Green morocco wallet with chased gold corners and medallion decorated with a miniature depicting "La Vierge à la chaise" - below this medallion a small gold plate adorned with 9 fine stones - on the sides 3 small gold plates bearing the engraved names "ELISA - JEROME - NAPOLEON". "This adaptation of RAPHAEL's Vierge à la chaise is curious; these are the portraits of Princess ELISA and NAPOLEON as a child". (Given by Princess ELISA to King JEROME on August 24, 1814) Biography PRINCESS ELISA BONAPARTE (1777-1820) Maria-Anna Bonaparte was born on January 3, 1777 in Ajaccio. Napoleon's younger sister, she soon took the name Elisa. This was the name she was known by at the Maison royale de Saint-Louis, where she was educated. She married Félix Baciocchi on May 1, 1797. In 1805, the Emperor granted her the Italian principality of Piombino. She subsequently became Princess of Lucca and Grand Duchess of Tuscany. In 1814, she had to leave her states. She settled in Cervignano and died suddenly of illness on August 7, 1820. She had five children, including Elisa Napoleone on June 3, 1806. Frédéric-Napoléon was born at Villa Manin, Codroipo, on August 10, 1814. Son of Elisa Bonaparte and Felix Bacciochi, he died prematurely in Rome on April 7, 1833, from a fall from his horse. Temporary import The buyer will be required to pay import duties of 5.5% in addition to the hammer price, unless the item is immediately re-exported outside the European Union. Work in temporary import The buyer will have to pay import fees of 5.5% in addition to the hammer price, unless the buyer immediately re-exports the lot outside the European Union.
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