Two luxury swords belonging to Jerome Napoleon, King of Westphalia

Ceremonial royal sword (emblazoned with the monogram J.N., Jerome Napoleon) and its scabbard: gold, tortoise shell, steel, created by M.-G. Biennais, Paris, 1807.
 
Westphalian royal sword (emblazoned with the monogram J.N., Jerome Napoleon) and its scabbard: gold, steel, chrysoprase, velvet, created by M.-G. Biennais, Paris, 1807.
 
Two symbols of the short-lived Kingdom of Westphalia (July 1807 – October 1813).
 
In 1807, Jerome Bonaparte commissioned Biennais, goldsmith to the Emperor and the imperial court, to produce the Westphalian royal sword and ceremonial royal sword.
 
It is unknown however whether the order was placed before leaving for Kassel or once the court had been assembled in Westphalia. A symbol of Kingship, the Westphalian royal sword is the more luxurious of the two, and would have featured in the crowning ceremony, had one ever taken place.
 
According to Prince Victor Napoleon – grandson of Jerome and father of Prince Louis Napoleon, who donated the weapons to the State in 1979 – the ceremonial sword was “carried by H.M. King Jerome as part of his court dress and occasionally with his formal Gardes du corps dress uniform”. A confirmed lover of French luxury and refinement, the newly installed King of Westphalia was never depicted in official portraits without his royal regalia.
 
These two swords were donated to the State in 1979 by Louis Napoleon Bonaparte (1914-1997), great-grandson of Jerome Napoleon. Stolen from Fontainebleau in a sensational burglary during the night of 15/16 November, 1995, the weapons were returned to the museum on 20 January, 2010.

Click here for a translation of the press release issued by the Ministry of Culture and Communication.
 
Click here for Frédéric Mitterand's speech at the handover (in French).