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Framed Maritime Passport signed by Napoleon Bonaparte
Framed Maritime Passport
Signed by Napoleon Bonaparte
Dated April 14, 1813
Signed documents of substantial scale by Napoleon Bonaparte are exceptionally scarce, and this maritime passport stands among the most revealing commercial instruments of his reign. Issued on April 14, 1813, it formally authorized an American merchant vessel to enter French ports during one of the most precarious moments of the Napoleonic Empire, when access to neutral trade had become a matter of survival rather than policy.
By 1813, the catastrophic Russian campaign had shattered the Grande Armée, while British naval supremacy effectively sealed French ports. This passport—never used, as the American vessel never arrived—captures the tension between imperial ambition and geopolitical reality, underscoring Napoleon’s reliance on transatlantic trade even as his empire stood on the brink of collapse.
Executed on a large sheet and bearing Napoleon’s bold, unmistakable signature, it is further distinguished by extensive ministerial endorsements and countersignatures from senior imperial officials. The density of handwritten approvals, combined with the printed imperial heading and administrative annotations, conveys the seriousness with which maritime access was regulated during the height of the Continental System.
Paper: 19 1/2“ high x 13 5/8” wide (49.53 x 34.29 cm) Frame: 23 3/4" high x 18 1/8" wide x 1 1/2" deep (60.33 x 46.04 x 3.81 cm)
Provenance:
Guaranteed by a commercial house established in Bordeaux
Private collection, France
M.S. Rau, New Orleans
Signed by Napoleon Bonaparte
Dated April 14, 1813
Signed documents of substantial scale by Napoleon Bonaparte are exceptionally scarce, and this maritime passport stands among the most revealing commercial instruments of his reign. Issued on April 14, 1813, it formally authorized an American merchant vessel to enter French ports during one of the most precarious moments of the Napoleonic Empire, when access to neutral trade had become a matter of survival rather than policy.
By 1813, the catastrophic Russian campaign had shattered the Grande Armée, while British naval supremacy effectively sealed French ports. This passport—never used, as the American vessel never arrived—captures the tension between imperial ambition and geopolitical reality, underscoring Napoleon’s reliance on transatlantic trade even as his empire stood on the brink of collapse.
Executed on a large sheet and bearing Napoleon’s bold, unmistakable signature, it is further distinguished by extensive ministerial endorsements and countersignatures from senior imperial officials. The density of handwritten approvals, combined with the printed imperial heading and administrative annotations, conveys the seriousness with which maritime access was regulated during the height of the Continental System.
Paper: 19 1/2“ high x 13 5/8” wide (49.53 x 34.29 cm) Frame: 23 3/4" high x 18 1/8" wide x 1 1/2" deep (60.33 x 46.04 x 3.81 cm)
Provenance:
Guaranteed by a commercial house established in Bordeaux
Private collection, France
M.S. Rau, New Orleans
Framed Maritime Passport
Signed by Napoleon Bonaparte
Dated April 14, 1813
Signed documents of substantial scale by Napoleon Bonaparte are exceptionally scarce, and this maritime passport stands among the most revealing commercial instruments of his reign. Issued on April 14, 1813, it formally authorized an American merchant vessel to enter French ports during one of the most precarious moments of the Napoleonic Empire, when access to neutral trade had become a matter of survival rather than policy.
By 1813, the catastrophic Russian campaign had shattered the Grande Armée, while British naval supremacy effectively sealed French ports. This passport—never used, as the American vessel never arrived—captures the tension between imperial ambition and geopolitical reality, underscoring Napoleon’s reliance on transatlantic trade even as his empire stood on the brink of collapse.
Executed on a large sheet and bearing Napoleon’s bold, unmistakable signature, it is further distinguished by extensive ministerial endorsements and countersignatures from senior imperial officials. The density of handwritten approvals, combined with the printed imperial heading and administrative annotations, conveys the seriousness with which maritime access was regulated during the height of the Continental System.
Paper: 19 1/2“ high x 13 5/8” wide (49.53 x 34.29 cm) Frame: 23 3/4" high x 18 1/8" wide x 1 1/2" deep (60.33 x 46.04 x 3.81 cm)
Provenance:
Guaranteed by a commercial house established in Bordeaux
Private collection, France
M.S. Rau, New Orleans
Signed by Napoleon Bonaparte
Dated April 14, 1813
Signed documents of substantial scale by Napoleon Bonaparte are exceptionally scarce, and this maritime passport stands among the most revealing commercial instruments of his reign. Issued on April 14, 1813, it formally authorized an American merchant vessel to enter French ports during one of the most precarious moments of the Napoleonic Empire, when access to neutral trade had become a matter of survival rather than policy.
By 1813, the catastrophic Russian campaign had shattered the Grande Armée, while British naval supremacy effectively sealed French ports. This passport—never used, as the American vessel never arrived—captures the tension between imperial ambition and geopolitical reality, underscoring Napoleon’s reliance on transatlantic trade even as his empire stood on the brink of collapse.
Executed on a large sheet and bearing Napoleon’s bold, unmistakable signature, it is further distinguished by extensive ministerial endorsements and countersignatures from senior imperial officials. The density of handwritten approvals, combined with the printed imperial heading and administrative annotations, conveys the seriousness with which maritime access was regulated during the height of the Continental System.
Paper: 19 1/2“ high x 13 5/8” wide (49.53 x 34.29 cm) Frame: 23 3/4" high x 18 1/8" wide x 1 1/2" deep (60.33 x 46.04 x 3.81 cm)
Provenance:
Guaranteed by a commercial house established in Bordeaux
Private collection, France
M.S. Rau, New Orleans
$12,075.00
Original: $34,500.00
-65%Framed Maritime Passport signed by Napoleon Bonaparte—
$34,500.00
$12,075.00Description
Framed Maritime Passport
Signed by Napoleon Bonaparte
Dated April 14, 1813
Signed documents of substantial scale by Napoleon Bonaparte are exceptionally scarce, and this maritime passport stands among the most revealing commercial instruments of his reign. Issued on April 14, 1813, it formally authorized an American merchant vessel to enter French ports during one of the most precarious moments of the Napoleonic Empire, when access to neutral trade had become a matter of survival rather than policy.
By 1813, the catastrophic Russian campaign had shattered the Grande Armée, while British naval supremacy effectively sealed French ports. This passport—never used, as the American vessel never arrived—captures the tension between imperial ambition and geopolitical reality, underscoring Napoleon’s reliance on transatlantic trade even as his empire stood on the brink of collapse.
Executed on a large sheet and bearing Napoleon’s bold, unmistakable signature, it is further distinguished by extensive ministerial endorsements and countersignatures from senior imperial officials. The density of handwritten approvals, combined with the printed imperial heading and administrative annotations, conveys the seriousness with which maritime access was regulated during the height of the Continental System.
Paper: 19 1/2“ high x 13 5/8” wide (49.53 x 34.29 cm) Frame: 23 3/4" high x 18 1/8" wide x 1 1/2" deep (60.33 x 46.04 x 3.81 cm)
Provenance:
Guaranteed by a commercial house established in Bordeaux
Private collection, France
M.S. Rau, New Orleans
Signed by Napoleon Bonaparte
Dated April 14, 1813
Signed documents of substantial scale by Napoleon Bonaparte are exceptionally scarce, and this maritime passport stands among the most revealing commercial instruments of his reign. Issued on April 14, 1813, it formally authorized an American merchant vessel to enter French ports during one of the most precarious moments of the Napoleonic Empire, when access to neutral trade had become a matter of survival rather than policy.
By 1813, the catastrophic Russian campaign had shattered the Grande Armée, while British naval supremacy effectively sealed French ports. This passport—never used, as the American vessel never arrived—captures the tension between imperial ambition and geopolitical reality, underscoring Napoleon’s reliance on transatlantic trade even as his empire stood on the brink of collapse.
Executed on a large sheet and bearing Napoleon’s bold, unmistakable signature, it is further distinguished by extensive ministerial endorsements and countersignatures from senior imperial officials. The density of handwritten approvals, combined with the printed imperial heading and administrative annotations, conveys the seriousness with which maritime access was regulated during the height of the Continental System.
Paper: 19 1/2“ high x 13 5/8” wide (49.53 x 34.29 cm) Frame: 23 3/4" high x 18 1/8" wide x 1 1/2" deep (60.33 x 46.04 x 3.81 cm)
Provenance:
Guaranteed by a commercial house established in Bordeaux
Private collection, France
M.S. Rau, New Orleans
