Napoleon's hat sells for record sum at French auction

A hat belonging to Napoleon Bonaparte when he was French emperor sold for a record of nearly two million euros at a French auction on Sunday. It went for 1.932 million euros ($2.1 million) breaking the previous record for a Napoleonic hat, held by the same auction house, of 1.884 million euros in 2014 shelled out by a South Korean businessman.

The hat, known as a bicorne, is in Napoleon's trademark colours black, with the French flag's colours blue-white-red as insignia and attracted interest from collectors "the world over", auctioneers Osenat said, declining to give the identity or nationality of the eventual buyer. It was last owned by businessman Jean-Louis Noisiez, who died last year.

Napoleon is believed to have owned around 120 such hats in total over 15 years, most of which are now lost. "The hat in itself represented the emperor's image," auction house expert Jean-Pierre Osenat told media ahead of the sale.