SOUVENIRS OF SAINTE HELENE FROM THE GRAND MARECHAL... Lot 361

SOUVENIRS OF SAINTE HELENE FROM THE GRAND MARECHAL BERTRAND A) TOMBSTONE OF EMPEROR NAPOLEON IER AT SAINTE HELENE. Presented on a black marble base with a handwritten note in pen on the front signed by the Grand Marshal: "To the Duke of Bassano. Stone of the Tomb of St. Helena. Bertrand" B) MORTAR OF THE WOOD OF HIS CORNER. With a handwritten note quoting these two souvenirs "Given by Gal Bertrand to the Duke of Bassano". Note: the tombstone is wrapped in a mourning paper headed Camden Place Chislehurst, proof that the 2nd Duke of Bassano took this souvenir with him during his exile with Emperor Napoleon III. Provenance: Descendants of the Dukes of Bassano. Related work: Two fragments of the Emperor's tombstone are kept in the collections of the Musée de l'Armée with a black marble base with a paper of similar provenance to ours signed by the Grand Marshal. These relics were offered to Colonel Chapuis. Inv. 7368-5. Bibliography: Napoleon at Saint Helena, the conquest of memory, Gallimard, 2016, p.271, fig.210.