Napoleon’s ring returns to Valence

A ring that Napoleon Bonaparte offered to his lover Caroline du Colombier in Valence, 25 years after he first met her, has been bought by an association dedicated to collecting mementos of the leader’s visits to the city.

Published Wednesday 26 April 2017 - 15:00 Modified Wednesday 26 April 2017 - 15:00

The ivory ring depicting three people picking cherries near an ancient temple, fetched €36,250 at an auction in Fontainebleau, Seine-et-Marne – three times the estimate given by the Bonaparte à Valence association.

Following the successful bid, the association’s president Jean-Claude Banc said: “There were some foreign buyers in the room, including some English ones, but I couldn’t let this ring leave for England. That would have been an insult to the memory of the Emperor.”

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