Exhibition labels & didactics - National Gallery of Victoria

Augustus EARLE
English 1793–1838, worked in Australia 1825–28
Napoleon’s tomb on the island of
Saint Helena
c. 1829
watercolour
National Library of Australia, Canberra
Rex Nan Kivell Collection NK12/142
On 9 May 1821, Napoleon was buried
beneath a brace of willow trees on St Helena.
To deflect visitors the island’s Governor,
Hudson Lowe, ordered the construction of
a barricade and sentry box at the site. For
decades following Napoleon’s death, prior to
the transferral of his remains to Paris in 1840,
people travelling to Australia souvenired
cuttings from these willows at Napoleon’s
grave when their ships stopped at St Helena
for provisions. This may account for some
of the willow trees that now proliferate
throughout southeastern Australia.
HERMON GAINIER À PARIS manufacturer
France active 1800–10
Travelling box for Napoleon’s personal
dinner service
Boîte servant au transport des assiettes du
service de l’Empereur
c. 1810
Morocco leather, chamois, silk
Fondation Napoléon, Paris
Donation Lapeyre inv. 792n
231
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