Napoleon ordered the saber in 1802 and kept it throughout his reign. An identical specimen – also ordered by Napoleon – is stored at the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Napoleon handed over the saber to his close friend and marshal Emmanuel de Grouchy at his final defeat, the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, and the sword has been in the Grouchy family's possession since then.
Interest in Napoleon objects is high in France. The auction house Giquello expects the saber to fetch between 700,000 and one million euros, equivalent to 7.7-11 million kronor, when it goes under the hammer on May 22.
Two pistols that Napoleon once planned to use to take his life with were sold in July last year for 1.7 million euros, and one of his characteristic hats went for as much as 1.9 million euros in November 2023.
On Sunday, a handwritten letter from Napoleon, in which he denies his role in the kidnapping of Pope Pius VII in 1809, will also be sold at the Osenat auction house in Fontainebleau, south of Paris. The value of the letter, signed with "Napole", is estimated at 12,000-15,000 euros.
