Frédéric Mitterrand, Minister of Culture and Communication, officially returned two luxury swords, stolen during the night of 15/16 November, 1995, to Jean-François Hébert, president of the Etablissement public du domaine et château de Fontainebleau.
Following the theft, the Office Central de lutte contre le trafic des Biens culturels (OCBC) and the Direction Régionale de Police Judiciaire (DRPJ) in Versailles were immediately instructed by the juge d'instruction du Tribunal de Grande Instance de Fontainebleau (Examining magistrate) to open an enquiry.
To this day, nearly all of the thirteen high value objects stolen that night have been recovered. The two swords were being held by a Dutch receiver of stolen goods and were returned to France on 23 October, 2009, following intervention from the OCBC. The Minister of Culture and Communication praised the OCBC for its tenacity and dedication in securing the return of these artefacts, fourteen years after their disappearance.
In 1807, Jerome Bonaparte commissioned Biennais, goldsmith to the Emperor and the imperial court, to produce the two swords. The first, the Westphalian royal sword, is made from gold and steel, decorated along the hilt with chrysoprases, and would have been used in Jerome's crowning ceremony which never took place. The sword can be seen in Gros' painting of Jerome on horseback, which hangs in the Château de Versailles. The second sword, known as the ceremonial royal sword, features a scabbard and grip made from tortoise shell and was worn for official appearances.
These two swords were donated to the State in 1979 by Louis Napoleon Bonaparte (1914-1997), son of Prince Victor Napoleon and great-grandson of Jerome Napoleon.
Press release: official return of two swords stolen from Fontainebleau
Author(s) : MINISTRY OF CULTURE AND COMMUNICATION