This Week in La Gazette Drouot : Two ceremonial swords honoring Marshal Oudinot, hero of the Napoleonic era

Marshal Nicolas-Charles Oudinot (1767–1847) remains to this day one of the legends of French military history. NapoleonI nicknamed him the “modern Bayard.” His loyalty and courage were beyond question. His battered body spoke for itself: wounded 34times, he fought in every battle from 1791 —when he was a lieutenant colonel in the3rdBattalion of the Meuse Volunteers—to 1814, during the French Campaign. Against all odds, the man who, during the Restoration, became a Peer of France, Minister of State, Commander-in-Chief of the Paris National Guard, and then Governor of Les Invalides, died peacefully in his bed at the age of 80. 
 

Preserved by his direct descendants, a collection of decorations, uniforms, and jewelry will be auctioned on November 17. Two swords symbolizing the marshal’s prestige will be featured. The first is the one from his full ceremonial uniform, crafted by the Imperial Manufactory of Versailles in 1809 upon his appointment as marshal, in recognition of his decisive role at the Battle of Wagram. Distinguished by its mother-of-pearl-covered pommel and the richly decorated scabbard, it is depicted in the portrait of the marshal in full dress uniform, commissioned by Napoleon for the Hall of Marshals at the Tuileries, painted by Robert Lefèvre, and housed at the Palace of Versailles.