Beschreibung:

Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821). A lock of Napoleon's hair in a gilt oval locket on a crimson ribbon together with a gilt and enamel Legion d'honneur and manuscript provenance dated July 12th 1818: The order with central laurel crowned portrait of Napoleon with encircling band of blue enamel and the legend 'Napoleon Emp Des Francais' and three stars, the reverse with Imperial Eagle facing to the left with blue enamel border inscribed 'Honneur Et Patrie' with three stars, on a ten pointed gold rimmed white enamel star with gold ball tips united by wreaths of oak and laurel wreaths, suspended from a green and gold laurel wreath with scarlet moire ribbon, mounted in a glazed wooden case with manuscript label above 'Grand Cross of Napoleon Buonaparte's (sic) Legion of Honour' , further manuscript provenance below "A Lock of hair from the head of Napoleon Buonaparte late Emperor of the French Nation given by him to Major Poppleton of His Majesty's 53rd Regiment of Foot who had the care of Buonaparte's person in the Island of St. Helena from his first being sent there until 1817. & by Major T.Poppleton given to his Wife's Sister Mifs Elizabeth Martin & by Mifs E Martin given to Mrs Isabella Gregory Wife of Richard Gregory of Coole near Gort July the 12th 1818. Richard Gregory. Coole near Gort", the case 33.5 x 21.4 x 2.6cm with typewritten transcript to back of the case.*Notes Thomas William Poppleton (1775-1827) was born in England and served with General Daumier's Regiment while stationed in Galway, Ireland. He transferred to the 53rd Regiment of Foot and served in the Peninsular Wars in Egypt and in Baird's Desert March to India. He then became orderly to the Governor of St. Helena, Sir Hudson Lowe and in turn to Napoleon himself when he was exiled to the island in 1815. Napoleon's captors were issued with strict supervisory orders so as not to repeat the same mistakes as Elba. In this role Poppleton became close to his prisoner out of respect for him being a fellow soldier. In 1817 Sir Hudson Lowe believed an escape attempt was imminent and ordered Poppleton to report all conversations with Napoleon or anything overheard during daily duties. Poppleton resigned his position as he did not wish to undertake the role of a spy and he transferred to the 12th Regiment of Foot. Upon his leaving St Helena, Napoleon gifted a silver snuffbox to Poppleton which was passed down through generations of the Martin family. Major Poppleton is buried in the Martin family vault at Killannin.Richard Gregory (1790-1847) built up the family estate at Coole Park, Galway and died there after caring for tenants suffering from an outbreak of the plague. The estate remained within the family until it was sold in 1927 to the Irish State by Margaret Gregory, daughter-in-law to Lady Augusta Gregory (1852-1932). The house was demolished in 1941 and the site is now a nature reserve. The Gregory Family papers (1770-1956) are held at the Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives and Rare Book Library, Robert W. Woodruff Library, Emory University, Atlanta, GA. Margaret Gregory died in Exeter in 1979.The Legion Of Honour was established by Napoleon in 1802 as France's highest Order of Merit of which he was the Grand Master. The portrait 'The Emperor Napoleon in his study at the Tuileries' (1812) by Jacques-Louis David (1748-1825) depicts him wearing a Legion Of Honour similar to that included in the lot.Major Poppleton appears to have acquired numerous artefacts from Napoleon in addition to the silver snuff box that remained within the Martin Family in Ireland. A lock of Napoleon's hair was presented by him to Lady Georgina Bathurst (1792-1874) daughter of the 3rd Earl of Bathurst in November 1817, (Sotheby's July14th 2015, Lot 23 English Literature, History, Children's Books & Illustrations) and another to a Mrs Riely in 1821 (David Lay 5th May, 2011, lot 2447)*Provenance Acquired by the vendor's father, an antiques dealer, in the 1980s and retained within the family.