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371 - Empress MARIE-LOUISE Marie Adélaide Joséphine AUGEREAU, lady…
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Estimate €30,000 - €40,000
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Description
Empress MARIE-LOUISE Marie Adélaide Joséphine AUGEREAU, lady of the palace of Empress Marie-Louise. A rare gilded wood mantel screen in the form of a shield with horns of plenty in which is inscribed the leaf embroidered on both sides with the monogram AJ, attributed to Marie Adélaide Joséphine Augereau, and a scene representing a little girl carrying a cat in her arms in a neoclassical décor (very probably a replacement from the Empire period made by the Empress Marie-Louise) with gouache highlights. The whole is supported by a base decorated with an eagle with spread wings resting on a platform with gilded bronze feet (probably brought back later). Circa 1815-1820. H: 98 cm, W: 49 cm, D: 26 cm Provenance: Most probably the Emperor Napoleon 1st (1769-1821) in Saint Helene (for the oval embroidery depicting a little girl). The scene embroidered on the leaf of this screen corresponds in all likelihood to the description of a panel described by the Mameluck Ali in the last resting place of Emperor Napoleon 1st at Saint Helene: "(...) a chenille embroidered panel by Empress Marie-Louise, depicting a little girl holding a cat in her arms; she is in a grove decorated with an antique vase. The head, hands and feet were, I believe, painted by Isabey" (L. E Saint Denis, Souvenir du Mameluck Ali sur l'empereur Napoléon, Paris, 1926, p.223). The fact that this embroidery was kept in the extreme intimacy of the Emperor during the latter part of his life, in memory of his wife the Empress Marie-Louise, makes it a potentially particularly moving souvenir. Biography : Adélaide Joséphine de BOURLON de CHAVANGE, born in 1789, was the daughter of Gilles Bernard Bourlon de Chavange and Jeanne Françoise Launuy. Born into a family of minor French nobility, she entered the circles of the imperial court under the First Empire. On 23 February 1809, at the age of 19, she married Charles-Pierre-François AUGEREAU, Marshal of the Empire, Duke of Castiglione, who was over fifty at the time. This marriage followed the death of the Marshal's first wife, Gabrielle Grach. The couple had no children. By decree of 10 April 1812, Adélaide Joséphine was appointed lady of the palace of Empress Marie-Louise of Austria, a prestigious position at the imperial court. When Marshal Augereau died in 1816, she was widowed at the age of 27. She then remarried Count Camille de Sainte-Aldegonde (also known as Charles-Camille-Joseph-Balthazar de Sainte-Aldegonde), who gave birth to a daughter, Valentine de Sainte-Aldegonde (1820-1891). In 1839, just under eighteen months after the death of Prince de Talleyrand, Valentine married the young Alexandre de Dino. On this occasion, Bishop de Sauzin of Blois, aged 85, celebrated the first wedding Mass of his ministry. Adélaide Joséphine de Bourlon de Chavange died in 1869, having lived through the Revolution, the Empire, the Restoration and the Second Empire. She remains best known as the second wife of Marshal Augereau and as lady of the palace under Napoleon I. Bibliography: Bibliotheque Historique, Souvenirs du Mameluck Ali (Louis Etienne Saint-Denis) sur l'Empereur Napoléon, introduction by G.Michaut, Payot, Paris 1926, p.223.
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About the sale The Empire at Fontainebleau - Second day
Auction location
Auction time 06/21/2026 at 10:30 AM
Lot description modified on 06/10/2026 at 9:59 AM
Pictures credits:
Michel Bury and Henri du Cray
See original version (French)
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