AN EMPEROR'S GIFTS

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 137, 7 December 1926, Page 16

AN EMPEROR'S GIFTS

AWAITING A PURCHASER

NAPOLEONIC PLATE THAT THE

GERMANS MISSED.

Sinco the Great War sent half the thrones of Europe totteriiig to the ground, Switzerland has given asylum to more royal heads than at any other period in her history, writes H. Callinar Jones in "The Graphic." ' Helvetia, however, is not only a place of refuge for1 kings. It has become a kind of "safe deposit" for the depleted fortunes of innumerable royalties who are now to realise whatever possessions war and revolution may havo left them in order to procure for themselves the bare necessities of existence.

It was in Switzerland that the illfated Emperor Karl found it necessary to pledge ythe wonderful jewels of the Austrian crown so that his numerous family should not know the pangs of hunger. The similarly unfortunate "Tino" likewise had to fall back on Swiss money-lenders when converting whatever possessions he managed to get away from Athens on his abdication.

"Ferdinand the Fox" did not wait until Nemesis overtook him, but transferred all his portable wealth into the safe-keeping of Swiss banks long before the crash came in Bulgaria. The number of Austrian archdukes and Russian nobles whose fortunes now repose in Switzerland is legion. '

But infinitely more interesting from an historic point of view than all these treasures are the priceless Napoleonic relics, which, by a tragic coincidence, have now found "their way into the keeping of a Swiss antiquary at Vevey, the pretty town on Lake Geneva, where over a century ago "the little Emperor" halted his troops on their famous march across the Alps to Italy. Visitors to Malmaison can admire the exquisite examples of the French goldsmith's art presented to Napoleon by a grateful people, but few have been privileged to look upon the even more beautiful presents which he gave to Josephine, the only woman he ; ever loved.

Arrayed on a great horseshoe table, a glittering mass of gold, are the chefs d'oeuvre of some of the finest masters of their time. J. B. C. Odiot, David, Genu, and that genius of the Court of Louis XVI., Biennais, < all contributed' some exquisite example of their craft. So great was Biennais's faith in Napoleon's star that for several years before he became Emperor he supplied all his presents to Josephine on credit. No machine was used in the execution of these glorious works. '

Dominating all is • massive gold looking-glass which many a time must have mirrored the sorrows of the unfortunate Empress during her exile at Malmaison. • A strange article of toilet is a narrow band of gold with which she used to scrape her tongue in the days when toothbrushes were still unknown. Here also are the delicately chased caskets which held her. wonderful jewels; golden pots for powder and patches, massive tea urns, Grecian jugs of amazing beauty, superb toilet sets: all triumphs of the goldsmith's art, and all embellished with /Josephine's favourite symbol, the swan.

And in an age-marked box lined with satin is an emerald the size of a duck's egg, said to be the finest perfect specimen known. At one time it formed the buckle of a "ceinture for Josephine's waist. When the unhappy Empress died these heirlooms were inherited by her son, Prince Eugene, afterwards passing into the possession of another member of the Leuchtenberg family, who took them to Russia. They were last used at the festivities given during a secret meeting of crowned heads in Bavaria just before the war broke out, and remained there until the German revolution.

Ignorant of their historic value, the German Customs officials then allowed them to be transferred to Switzerland on payment of duty assessed only on the gross weight of the gold.

Since the Russian revolution the present house of Leuchtenberg has fallen on evil days, and these priceless relics of a great Emperor's love will now have to pass into other hands.