Napoleon’s hat recently discovered with DNA previews in Hong Kong

HONG KONG, Sept. 6 (Reuters) – A newly discovered cap with DNA evidence proving it belonged to legendary European statesman and general Napoleon Bonaparte was scheduled for Monday by the Bonhams auction house in Hong Kong.

Described by Bonhams as the “first hat worn by the Emperor’s DNA”, it is shown in Hong Kong before moving to Paris and then to London, where it will be auctioned on 27 October.

The hat, one of the iconic bicorns often seen in depictions of Napoleon on the battlefield, had been bought by its current owner at a small German auction house that did not know at the time that it had belonged to the emperor.

“It was purely a casual encounter,” said Simon Cottle, CEO of Bonhams Europe.

The buyer was intrigued when he realized it had inscriptions and other features suggesting it may have belonged to Napoleon, Cottle said, adding that an initial investigation suggested it matched the size and age of Napoleon’s bicorns.

The hat was then tested with several methods, including electron microscopy.

“Five hairs were discovered when the contents of the hat were examined very closely,” Cottle said. “And two of those hairs were followed and carried Napoleon’s marker.”

According to Cottle, the history of this hat is very different from the rest of the Napoleonic bicorns that have been offered on the market. He said most of them had been handed over by noble families related to the emperor or soldiers who picked them up on the battlefield.

The estimated price of the hat – between £ 100,000 ($ 138,550) and £ 150,000 – was prudent, Cottle said, as the hat was recently shown to belong to the emperor.

Other Napoleonic hats, with more history on the auction circuit, have raised up to $ 2.5 million.

($ 1 = £ 0.7218)

Written by Farah Master. Edited by Gerry Doyle

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