Objects

Of all the existing images of the Empress Eugenie, the photographs of her in prayer are the most iconic. This photographic portrait taken by Gustave le Gray  in the summer of 1856 for the painter Thomas Couture, was widely disseminated after it was taken. This wasn’t the first time the Empress was captured in prayer; the […]

Napoleon Eugène Louis Jean Joseph Bonaparte (1856-1879), Prince Imperial, was the recipient of a number of orders and decorations during his life, although these distinctions are often overshadowed by the large and impressive collection belonging to his father, the Emperor Napoleon III. Napoleon III’s collection is the only complete set of decorations belonging to a […]

This ensemble of two necklaces, a pair of bracelets, a diadem, a brooch, a pendant and six pins, attributed to jewellers Marie-Étienne Nitot and François-Régnault Nitot (father and son), is decorated with cameos in malachite, natural pearls, yellow gold and tortoiseshell. All except three of the cameos have antique-style figures on them, female or male profiles. The two […]

The jewellery worn by the Ladies in Waiting or Dames of Empress Eugenie’s Household are indicative of the sumptuous nature of the Empire and the brilliant technicity of French jewellery. The broach here also had a practical use: unlike the men in service to the crown, the ladies had no uniform. A specific broach was […]

Swiss-born Abraham-Louis Bréguet was encouraged to go into watchmaking by his step-father Joseph Tattet, who came from a family of watchmakers and had a showroom in Paris. Bréguet completed his apprenticeship under an horlogist in Versailles. He established his own house in Paris in 1775 on the Quai de l’Horloge and became a master in […]

On 18 May 1808, Napoleon I was named knight of the Order of the Elephant by King Frederik VI of Denmark. Announced shortly after the Treaty of Fontainebleau had been concluded (31 October 1807), this act sealed the alliance between France and Denmark. It was also the first nomination made by the new king upon […]

The ‘Diamonds of the Crown of France’, an inalienable treasure embodying the power of the monarchy, survived throughout French history from the creation of the institution in 1530 by François I up to the Second Empire. And Napoleon III was to make his own use of this fabulous treasure, just as all French monarchs had […]