Napoleon Has to Make Way for Princess Grace

[cinrit]

It is already labeled as the sale of the century, even though the century is barely 14 years old. Hyperbole is customary for an auction house, but the auction on November 15 and 16 is nevertheless unique. Prince Albert II of Monaco is selling the contents of the palace's museum dedicated to Napoleon Bonaparte.

"If someone had told me when I started I would sell the Napoleonic Museum of the Grimaldi's, I would not have believed it. For me, it is the sale of the century!", auctioneer Jean-Pierre Osenat told French newspaper Le Parisien. The collection has been amassed by Albert's great-grandfather Prince Louis II (1870-1949) and is said to contain well over 1,000 objects. No wonder that experts and collectors are in a flurry and one could forgive them their excitement and talk of a 'sale of the century'.

"He was a knowledgeable collector and he had a family connection with Beauharnais", Jean-Christophe Chataignier of the auction house in Fontainebleau told Le Parisien about Prince Louis II. He first exhibited the objects in his private apartments. His grandson Prince Rainier brought them together in a dedicated place.

More: http://gpdhome.typepad.com/royalblognl_news_summary/2014/11/napoleon-has-to-make-way-for-princess-grace.html

Cindy