Napoleon wore the felt hat towards the middle of his time as emperor, which lasted from 1808 to 1815, according to the auction house. We’re leaving it at 1.5 million for this major Napoleon symbol, I’m selling for 1.5 million, no regrets, sold,” Osenat said as he brought down the hammer to applause.

“One million four hundred fifty thousand to my left, 1.5 million, we have 1.5 million in the room, 1.5 million for Napoleon’s hat. Napoleon is believed to have owned around 120 such hats in total, most of which are now lost. The final price was more than double the estimate of 600,000 to 800,000 euros ($655,00 to $873,000), and nearly four times the reserve price, said the auction house based in Fontainebleau, south of Paris. The hat was last owned by businessman Jean-Louis Noisiez, who died last year. The hat, known as a bicorne, is in Napoleon’s trademark colours – black, with the French flag’s colours blue-white-red as insignia – and attracted collectors “from the world over”, auctioneer Jeane-Pierre Osenat said, declining to give the identity or nationality of the eventual buyer. Keep reading list of 4 items list 1 of 4 France’s Macron marks bicentenary of Napoleon’s death list 2 of 4 France to hold landmark Napoleon auction list 3 of 4 France exhibition aims to paint positive image of Napoleon list 4 of 4 The ‘Uncle Napoleon’ of Persian fiction has just passed away end of list

Napoleon hat