PRECIOUS SOUVENIR OF "LA BELLE POULE". Wall clock... Lot 356

PRECIOUS SOUVENIR OF "LA BELLE POULE". Wall clock of octagonal shape with two anchor points in wood, mahogany veneer. Ivory enamelled dial with Roman numerals. Small dial at 6 o'clock. Square for key at 4 o'clock. Under glass, hinged brass ring. With embossed brass letters. In the upper part "LA BELLE", in the lower part "POULE". At the back, a fragment of an engraving representing the translation of the ashes of the Emperor Napoleon I, protected under plexi. 210x210mm. Era 1840-1860. Historical background: In service from 1839 to 1861, La Belle-Poule was a first rank frigate of sixty guns. In 1840, the prince of Joinville is charged by the government to repatriate in France the body of the emperor Napoleon I which rests in Saint Helena since 1821. The Belle-Poule was repainted in black and received a chapel of fire. After a ninety-three day voyage, the frigate anchored in front of St. Helena. Napoleon's coffin was exhumed on 15 October. Transferred to the Belle-Poule, it arrived in Cherbourg on 30 November, from where steamers took it down the Seine to Paris for burial at Les Invalides. Provenance Drouot sale March 2000.