Lot 237: Napoléon François Joseph Charles Bonaparte (1811-1832), King of Rome, with blonde curls, surrounded by clouds

SCHOOL OF ISABEY, CIRCA 1812/15
Napoléon François Joseph Charles Bonaparte (1811-1832), King of Rome, with blonde curls, surrounded by clouds
bearing signature 'Isabey'
oval, ¾ in. (20 mm.) high, within rectangular stamped gold panel on the lid of an octagonal silver-gilt hinged black tortoiseshell snuff-box, by Alexandre Leferre (fl. 1837 - after 1860), marked

Auction Wilfried W. Haller, Hanover, 30 April 1977.

PROPERTY FROM A EUROPEAN PRIVATE COLLECTION


Napoléon François Joseph Charles Bonaparte (1811-1832) was the son of Emperor Napoléon Bonaparte and his second wife, Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria. He was given the title of The King of Rome, which the Emperor declared to be the title of the heir-apparent. Upon the abdication of Napoléon I after his defeat at Waterloo the Chamber of Representatives and Chamber of Peers recognised the young Napoléon as Emperor. Loyal Bonapartists proclaimed him Napoléon II in Paris on 28 June 1815 but he was formally deposed five days later with the arrival of the Allies in the French capital. He went to Austria where he lived at court and was awarded the title Duke of Reichstadt. At the age of 21 he died of tuberculosis at Schönbrunn Palace, Vienna.