Restored Vase Smashed By Napoleon On Ebay
Published August 17th, 2007
Press Release
On April 8, 1927, the New York Times featured a story about a valuable porcelain vase that was about to be auctioned to settle a debt. But it was the vase’s colorful history that made the story truly newsworthy. Eighty years later, the vase is being put to auctioned again, this time on eBay for a minimum bid of $30,000.
According to the article (and other sources,) the vase once belonged to Catherine the Great, who presented it as a gift to Count Louis de Cobenzel, a prominent Austrian diplomat. When Napoleon came to see the count to negotiate the terms of a treaty between Austria and France, Cobenzel intimated that Austria might enlist Russian aid. Napoleon became furious and allegedly declared, “The truce is now ended and war declared. Before autumn is over, I shall shatter your empire as I shatter this vase.†According to the account, Napoleon then picked up the vase and smashed it into the fireplace.
Napoleon’s brother, Joseph, was party to this incident, and fortunately he collected the pieces of the vase and had the vase restored. He then brought it to America where it wound up in the hands of a New York society woman who bequeathed it to her personal physician. It was the physician who intended to auction off the vase to satisfy a personal debt owed to her nurse. But the auction never happened, and the vase became the property of the nurse. The New York Times account ends there. The vase’s current owner has kept it in her home all these years and is now willing to list it on eBay (Item Number: 250154416968) where it will be active until August 23.
