Embroidered bee from coronation robes of Napoleon & Josephine c.1804

Description

French First Empire bullion-thread embroidered bee appliqué with accompanying manuscript provenance letter, identifying it as a fragment from the imperial coronation robes of Napoleon I, France, dated 1804.

Provenance

Napoleon or Josephine 1804
Cannons of Notre Dame cathedral, Paris France 1814
Joseph Tournier, Paris France 1814
John Wilson, Paris France 1814
Bodenham & James, solicitors of Hereford, UK ?
Barry Faulkner, Worcestershire UK 2007

History & Context

French First Empire bullion-thread embroidered bee appliqué with accompanying manuscript provenance letter, traditionally identified as a fragment from the imperial coronation robes of Napoleon I, France, dated 1814.
Finely worked in silver-gilt bullion thread over a shaped textile support, the bee displays the distinctive iconography adopted by Napoleon Bonaparte as one of the principal emblems of the First Empire. Derived from the ancient Merovingian bees associated with the tomb of Childeric I, the motif symbolised dynastic continuity, immortality, and imperial authority, and appeared extensively upon court costumes, coronation robes, throne furnishings, and ceremonial textiles commissioned for the imperial household.
Accompanying the embroidery is a folded manuscript letter in English, dated Paris, 16 December 1814, providing an early provenance for the relic. The inscription states that the ornament originated from “the Royal Imperial Robe of Napoleon Bonaparte in which he was crowned Emperor of the French by the Pope Pius the 7th in the Church of Notre Dame,” further noting that it had been “purchased from the superiors of that Church,” and also references the robes of the Empress Marie-Louise. The document records that the piece was presented by a certain Joseph Fournier to John Wilson as a token of regard during the early Bourbon Restoration period, only months after Napoleon’s abdication and exile to Elba.
While definitive documentary confirmation connecting the bee directly to the coronation mantle is not presently known, both the embroidery technique and the form of the emblem are entirely consistent with high-quality French imperial ceremonial work of the early nineteenth century. The survival of the contemporary provenance note greatly enhances the historical significance of the piece, reflecting the early dispersal and collecting of Napoleonic relics immediately following the fall of the Empire.

Letter of provenance stating it was given as a gift in December 1814 to Mr John Wilson:

An ornament from the royal imperial robe of Napoleon Bounaparte in which he was crowned Emperor of the Gauls by Pope Pius the 7th in the church of Notre Dame and purchased from the superiors of that church. Also the royal robe of the Empress Maria Louise.


By Mr Joseph Tournier December 1814


Given to me by Mr Joseph Tournier as a testimony of his regards.
John Wilson


No 7 Boulevard des Italiens
a Paris
December 16th 1814

Additional photographs