Lot 239: Louis Bonaparte (1778-1846), King of Holland 1806-1810, in the green uniform of a general, with scarlet facings, silver epaulettes, wearing the breast-star and badge of the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour and the badges of the Order of

LOUIS-FRANÇOIS AUBRY (FRENCH, 1767-1851)
Louis Bonaparte (1778-1846), King of Holland 1806-1810, in the green uniform of a general, with scarlet facings, silver epaulettes, wearing the breast-star and badge of the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour and the badges of the Order of the Iron Crown of Lombardy and of the Order of the Golden Fleece
signed and dated 'aubry 1806' (lower left)
oval, 2 1/8 in. (54 mm.) high, blue-enamelled gold mount, set on the lid of a hinged rectangular gold-lined black tortoiseshell snuff-box by Alexandre Leferre (fl. 1837 - after 1860), marked, signed on the flange 'Leferre F.res à Paris', with the French excise mark for 18 carat gold 1838-1919

ANOTHER PROPERTY


Louis Bonaparte, born Luigi Buonaparte, was the younger brother of Napoléon I of France. The early part of his career was spent in the army and he served in Egypt with Napoléon, and he became a General by the time he was 25. He was made King of Holland on 5 June 1806 and he took his duties as ruler of Holland seriously, calling himself ' Koning Lodewijk I ' and learning the Dutch language. Later he was given the title of 'Louis the Good' when he personally oversaw the relief efforts in the aftermath of two major incidents involving the city of Leiden: in 1807 the city was damaged when a ship filled with gunpowder exploded, and two years later the city was further devastated by floods. After the death of his elder brother Joseph in 1844, Louis was seen by Bonapartists as the rightful Emperor, although he took little action himself to advance the claim.
Another version by Aubry, also signed and dated 1806, is illustrated in K. Henninger-Tavcar, Miniaturporträts , Pforzheim, 1995, p. 134.