The Splendour of Napoleon III's Elite Guards

Published on 28 May 2020, by Anne Doridou-Heim

Auction on 12 June 2020 - 14:00 (CEST) - 3, rue Favart - 75002 Paris

Napoleon III's elite Cent-Gardes cavalry squadron was entirely devoted to the Emperor and his family. The Debaecker collection relates its remarkable history and reveals its intimate side.

Cent-Garde mannequin (1856-1870) with complete outfit: helmet, surcote, tunic, epaulettes,... The Splendour of Napoleon III's Elite Guards

Cent-Garde mannequin (1856-1870) with complete outfit: helmet, surcote, tunic, epaulettes, white buffalo sword belt, leather trousers, white kid gauntlets, black leather boots, Treuille de Beaulieu rifle lance, 1854 model and Treuille de Beaulieu sword lance, h. 220 cm.
Estimate for the set: €40,000/50,000 (sold in several lots, unit by unit, with multi-unit option)

Looking positively splendid in his magnificent full-dress uniform, this guard is no ordinary officer: he is a member of Napoleon III's Cent-Gardes squadron. To enter this elite corps, a cavalryman had to be at least 1m78 (5 ft 8in) tall: a height that was even increased by two centimetres after 1858. It is easy to imagine the fine figure he cut and his success with society, particularly the fairer sex! In her Veillées normandes ("Normandy gatherings") of 1867, the Comtesse de Mirabeau recounted the interest of a young provincial woman visiting the capital: "One thing alone excited her admiration: a Cent-garde! She wanted to alight from…

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