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The Inspiration behind the design:
The Rise and Fall of Empire
Napoleon Bonapart is
the inspiration behind
this piece.
The parts of the frockcoat (French habit) were pinned onto the mannequin during the process of shaping them correctly.
The decoration for the lining that would show beneath his torso was where the colourfulness of the imagery from the Burnous cloak came to the fore.
Embroidered on the original the floral designs on this piece were painted in water colour ink.
All the other elements of the decoration were emrboidered.
Different colours of tissue paper were layered up.
And certain shapes were made of quilling.
The buttons of the waistcoat were likewise formed as tight coils of quilling using gold edged white paper strips.
The original plan was for a tassel...
...but this was abandoned.
This image shows an area of text traced using red transfer paper onto red tissue.
This is the underside showing the use of layering.
Stitched flowers on a cream surface on top...
...looked blue underneath during production.
The different parts of the piece were sometimes sewn together on the mannequin.
The gold trim on this piece was to be an important feature...
...at first it was hard to work out how to produce it...
...it was greaseproof paper that proved the solution, that and gold embroidery thread.
The body of the jacket was likewise created from layers of different sorts of paper with tissue paper on the top...
...and certain parts, such as the collar, had to be stiffened.
Instead of buttons toggles reflected the historically accurate origins of the dufflecoat.
After much consideration Napoleon chose the bee to represent his status as Emperor.
These are produced from card, quilling, greaseproof paper, gold powder and mizuhiki rice paper chord.
They also represent the shape of a bee clasp from anothe cloak that Napoleon owned.
The shape of the embroidery on the chest of this piece is from the hood on the Burnous cloak.
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And on one sleeve, is traced the wording of the surrender letter Napoleon wrote to The Prince Regent in 1815. Both were done using red transfer paper.
On one pocket is the tracing of a letter Napoleon wrote to Josephine on learning of her pregnancy, which turned out not to be real.
Whilst the French army wore blue Napoleon can be seen wearing red in several paintings of him at rest or in positions of state. This is: Napoleon as First Consul, by Antoine-Jean Gros, 1802
This is Major General Destaing's habit from 1798. In use between 1798 and 1803.
This dress of Destaing is very close to the dress of Bonaparte worn at the battle of Marengo.
The third reason that this frockcoat is red as well as the primary inspiration for the surface decoration of The Rise and Fall of Empire was: Napoleon's Cloak (Burnous) 1797 - 1805 (Felt, silk, silk brocade, silver thread, braid, tinsel. It is owned today by The Royal Collection Trust, please click this button to view it on their site:
Blood: "Concerning the French losses due to the Napoleonic wars, I know that historians are the first to say that they are very difficult to evaluate. I read somewhere that the Fondation Napoléon estimated the losses at between 400,000 and 1 million dead, with a reasonable estimate of 700,000 dead."
- written by Thibault de NOBLET, Adjoint de conservatio, Département Moderne, Musée de l’Armée
