About the Collection

The Imperial Cabinet is a private collection devoted to the history, material culture and personalities of the First French Empire and the wider Napoleonic era.

It has been almost thirty years in the making. What began as a very humble collection of books and the occasional “touristic souvenir” has, through research, luck and the assistance of some very special people, gradually grown into the collection you see displayed here.

It is not a collection built primarily through major auction houses. Much of it has grown through the modern ability to search the world online and discover objects that have been overlooked, incorrectly identified or simply lost their history over time. Some have been genuine “sleepers” — objects whose significance was not recognised when they appeared for sale, but where research has subsequently been able to give them their history back. That process of discovery has become as important to me as the objects themselves.

The collection brings together objects created for the imperial family and members of the court, military objects, documents and works of art, as well as quieter things that simply help us understand what everyday life might have been like during this extraordinary period in which Napoleon Bonaparte and his contemporaries reshaped France and much of Europe.

At its heart is an interest in the people behind the history. Emperors and empresses, soldiers and statesmen, artists and craftsmen, and ordinary men and women are all represented through objects that have survived for more than two centuries. Portraits, documents, porcelain, books, medals, military objects, textiles and works on paper provide tangible connections with individuals whose lives were touched by the political and social upheavals of the period.

There are objects that may once have been held by Napoleon or Empress Joséphine, by members of their families, households and courts. But there are also objects that might simply have belonged to Monsieur Martin. Both have stories worth telling.

Joséphine’s world forms a particularly important part of the collection, encompassing not only her position as Empress, but her patronage of the arts, her celebrated residence at Malmaison, and her interests in gardens, roses, botanical collecting and the natural sciences.

This part of the collection is especially dear to me because of my friendship with the celebrated historian Bernard Chevallier, former director of Malmaison. I had the great privilege of calling Bernard a friend, and over the years his knowledge, generosity and enthusiasm greatly enriched my own understanding of Joséphine and her world. His death in 2024 came far too early, and he is greatly missed by friends, colleagues and admirers around the world.

French porcelain forms another significant part of the collection. Objects produced by the Manufacture Impériale de Sèvres demonstrate the exceptional technical and artistic standards achieved under the Empire and the important role porcelain played in imperial representation, diplomacy and gift-giving. Works from other French and European manufactories help place Sèvres within the broader decorative culture of the period and show the extraordinary variety of objects produced for courts, households and private patrons.

The collection also preserves objects relating to the military institutions upon which the Empire depended. Insignia, uniform elements, orders and decorations sit alongside portraits of officers and soldiers, allowing individual objects to be understood within the larger history of the armies that served across Europe during the Revolution, Empire and Restoration.

Books, manuscripts and printed material provide another perspective on the period. Some have direct associations with members of the imperial family or individuals connected with the Napoleonic world; others document contemporary ceremonies, institutions, events and ideas. Medallions record battles, political events, personalities and achievements, functioning as miniature monuments to the history of their age.

The Imperial Cabinet is not intended simply as a display of rare or beautiful objects. Research and provenance are central to the collection. Each object is approached as historical evidence. Where possible, attribution and provenance are tested against archival records, contemporary inventories, published scholarship and comparable surviving examples. Where an identification remains uncertain, it is presented as such rather than transformed into certainty.

That is one of the reasons this website has been created: to make the research accessible and to allow individual objects to tell larger stories. Catalogue entries are not necessarily the final word. As new information emerges, they will continue to develop and, where necessary, earlier conclusions will be revised.

Although privately held in Australia, the collection reflects an international history. Its objects have travelled across countries, generations and more than two centuries before arriving together here.

The Imperial Cabinet is therefore a collection still in progress — a continuing exploration of the people, objects and stories of the Napoleonic world.