- Eagle Finial, 1813-1814

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- Eagle Finial, 1813-1814

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This is 10 inches tall gilded bronze finial of an eagle meant to be attached to a staff on top of a flagpole and carried into battle. This particular eagle finial was the insignia of the First Regiment of Napoleon’s Imperial Guard. The eagle’s full-feathered body faces front, and its proud majestic head is turned to our right.  It has a long beak which is slightly closed, and its wings are unfurled and outstretched with one talon resting on Jupiter’s thunderbolt, an object that resembles a bundle of crossed sticks. It is mounted on a small plinth with the number 1, indicating the regiment. There is a silk flag tied to the plinth with golden fringe and stars.  

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Eagle Finial: Insignia of the First Regiment of Grenadiers of Foot of Napoleon's Imperial Guard, 1813-1814

Gilded bronze , 25.4 cm (10 in.)

Object details
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Object details

Accession number

T17s1.a

Creators

Full title

Eagle Finial: Insignia of the First Regiment of Grenadiers of Foot of Napoleon's Imperial Guard

Creation Date

1813-1814

Provenance


Anatoli Nikolaievich Demidov (1813–1870), Prince of San Donato, Russian diplomat and industrialist, Florence.

Sale of the San Donato Collection, Chales Pillet, Paris, 12-22 April 1880, lot 2190.

Purchased by Isabella Stewart Gardner from the art dealer Sypher and Company, New York on 9 November 1880 for $300 with the standard of the Imperial Guard of Napoleon. (museum nos. T17s1.b-d)

Stolen in 1990.

Marks

Number of regiment (base): 1

Dimensions

25.4 cm (10 in.)

Display Media

Gilded bronze

Web Commentary

Isabella Stewart Gardner kept meticulous records of many of her acquisitions. In keeping with this legacy, object information is continually being reviewed, updated, and enriched in order to give greater access to the collection.

Permanent Gallery Location

Short Gallery

Bibliography

Charles Pillet. Palais de San Donato, deuxième partie, Catalogue des objets d'ameublement du rez-de-chaussée,... (Paris, 12-22 April 1880), p. 27, lot 2190. (as an exact copy of the flag of the first regiment of the Imperial Guard of Napoleon I)
Art Exhibition: Mrs. John L. Gardner, 152 Beacon St., Boston. Exh. cat. (Boston, 1899), p. 1, no. 5. (as the flag of the first regiment of the Imperial Guard of Napoleon I)
O. Hollander. Nos drapeaux et étendards de 1812 à 1815 (Paris, 1902), pp. 22, 81-83, 103, 104, 201, 202.
Catalogue. Fenway Court. (Boston, 1903), p. 1. (as a flag of the first regiment of the Imperial Guard of Napoleon I)
Wendel Longstreet and Morris Carter. General Catalogue (Boston, 1935), p. 133. (as a flag of the first regiment of the Imperial Guard of Napoleon I)
“Notes, Records, Comments.” Gardner Museum Calendar of Events 9, no. 42 (19 Jun. 1966), p. 2. (as a copy of the flag of the first regiment of the Imperial Guard of Napoleon I)
Général J. Regnault. Les aigles impériales et le drapeau tricolore 1804-15 (Paris, 1967), pp. 207, 208, figs. 36, 37.
Adolph S. Cavallo. Textiles: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 1986), pp. 160-61, no. 117. (as the original or a copy of the flag of the first regiment of the Imperial Guard of Napoleon I)
Musée de l'Armée Invalides, Paris, accessed 2015. www.musee-armee.fr/ (Eagle finial as Antoine Denis Chaudet, cast by Pierre-Philippe Thomire)

Rights and reproductions

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Commentary

Isabella Stewart Gardner kept meticulous records of many of her acquisitions. In keeping with this legacy, object information is continually being reviewed, updated, and enriched in order to give greater access to the collection.