With support from the University of Richmond

History News Network

History News Network puts current events into historical perspective. Subscribe to our newsletter for new perspectives on the ways history continues to resonate in the present. Explore our archive of thousands of original op-eds and curated stories from around the web. Join us to learn more about the past, now.

Lock of Napoleon's hair sells for £9,000

A lock of Napoleon's hair has fetched nearly £9,000 at auction.

The hair was cut from his head after he died in exile in 1821 on St Helena by Denzil Ibbetson, commissionary officer on the during the French Emperor's incarceration on the island.

The lock was one of 40 lots of memorabilia from Napoleon up for auction in New Zealand which fetched a total of NZ$140,000 (£64,336).

Bidders from England, France, Lithuania, Hong Kong and the United States joined the auction by phone for items – sold by a New Zealand family, descendants of Mr Ibbetson.

The highest price, NZ$21,000 was paid for a lithograph and watercolour death bed sketch of Napoleon by Mr Ibbetson, Hamish Coney, Art and Object auction house managing director, said. The unnamed buyer bid by phone from London....

Read entire article at Telegraph (UK)