Sword gifted by Napoleon Bonaparte heads to auction

The Manila Times

Sword gifted by Napoleon Bonaparte heads to auction  A 31-inch curved steel-bladed sword given to Royal Navy Captain James Kearney White (1782-1828) by Napoleon Bonaparte will go on sale at auction with an estimated value between 30,000 to 50,000 pounds. Charles Miller, head of Charles Miller auction house, says that despite the sword being an average standard piece, its link to the former French emperor makes it unique because "you don't get many swords associated so directly with Napoleon." The auction sale will take place in London on November 12.  AFP VIDEO  Subscribe to The Manila Times Channel - https://tmt.ph/YTSubscribe  Visit our website at https://www.manilatimes.net    Follow us:  Facebook - https://tmt.ph/facebook  Instagram - https://tmt.ph/instagram  Twitter - https://tmt.ph/twitter  DailyMotion - https://tmt.ph/dailymotion    Subscribe to our Digital Edition - https://tmt.ph/digital    Check out our Podcasts:  Spotify - https://tmt.ph/spotify  Apple Podcasts - https://tmt.ph/applepodcasts  Amazon Music - https://tmt.ph/amazonmusic  Deezer: https://tmt.ph/deezer  Tune In: https://tmt.ph/tunein   #TheManilaTimes #worldnews  #napoleonbonaparte

Transcript

00:00I

00:30Here we have a scimitar type sword here with a stone handle. It's a Moorish weapon

00:53The scabbard here brass mounted, of course

00:56decorated shapes and

00:58There's the all-important description

01:01With the brass look at the top there

01:05You'll notice the blade is a plain steel blade it's designed for working

01:09It's not a decorative thing bit of Damascene going on, but it's got an edge to it

01:13So this is a fighting weapon and it was whilst he was a escort in Northumberland that he was dispatched to Jersey

01:19to pick up a large cargo of wine that seems that Napoleon had forgotten to bring his own wine and

01:25so Carly White goes to

01:27Jersey picks up some wine and then follows on to St Helena and it seems that he got on well with the Emperor

01:33They obviously struck up a rapport and I think perhaps that two professional men in the military would would do so

01:40clearly Napoleon responded well to a man of intelligence and vigor that the Carly White must have been and

01:46That's why he gave him a sword as a thank-you for this little errand perhaps. I mean if it wasn't for the association with Napoleon

01:55The sword itself isn't actually that special. It's a fairly

02:00Standard piece of kit. It's you see quite a lot of them on the market

02:03And I don't suppose Napoleon had any great need to keep it as he must have had a lot of bits and pieces lying around

02:09And so yes

02:10It's a logical gift for a military man to have if it wasn't for the association of Napoleon

02:15It'd be less than a thousand pounds, but you don't get many swords associated so directly with Napoleon

02:21context and I believe

02:24Possibly a slightly more flamboyant sword sold for a great deal more in France not so long ago

02:29So we're somewhere in the middle with a lesson less lamp less flamboyant sword

02:33but still something that Napoleon owned and gave so the the sword the sword is part of a group of

02:39Four swords all with associated this this family

02:44and

02:45They the family the they went they've been the direct descendants of Carly White

02:51but the

02:53They've moved sideways within the family

02:55So the association to the the sea and the Navy has now been lost and the family to be honest didn't really know what to

03:00Do with them anymore?

03:01They weren't

03:03They're not interested in military things now

03:05So that's why they got in touch with us and said look we realize they're not being well looked after by us

03:11It's now time to get rid of these things because we don't really

03:14Have a use for them, and we don't know what to do with them

03:23You

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