ONE of Napoleon Bonaparte’s trademark toppers will be offered in late summer at Sotheby’s, where it’s expected to fetch between €400,000-€600,000 (US$473,546-US$710,319) in a wide-ranging auction commemorating the bicentenary of the French military and political leader’s death.

Online bidding for a signature bicorne hat and other items runs from Sept. 15 to 22. This particular two-cornered military hat that is on the block — one of just 19 bicornes that have been authenticated as belonging to Napoleon, according to the auction house — is believed to have been in the general’s possession during his 1807 campaign.

Napoleon is said to have worn this bicorne while signing the Treaty of Tilsit that divided Europe into different zones of French and Russian influence, according to Sotheby’s.

Politician Sir Michael Shaw Stewart bought it in 1814, and it was brought back to Scotland, and it became a family heirloom.

Also on the auction block is a death mask from an original cast made May 7, 1821, on the island of Saint Helena, where Napoleon had died two days earlier at age 51. It is expected to sell for between €10,000-€15,000.

Also offered is a silver coffee pot that Napoleon’s mother, Laetitia Bonaparte, sold by necessity while her son was in exile to raise money to support the family. It’s expected to sell for €15,000-€20,000. Auction literature notes that because the emperor’s mother was “ever anxious that his rule would end without warning, she would often say, ‘I hope it lasts, I hope it lasts.’”

The celebration of the 200th anniversary of Napoleon’s death May 5, 1821 caused controversy in France.

People who supported the idea praised his military vision but opponents denounced the hundreds of thousands of deaths due to his military campaigns.

(SD-Agencies)