Serial Number: DW 0083
Subcategory: Desk Watch
Status: Display
Description:
Bronze clock Josephien Beauharnais , circa 1830, H- 54cm. Purchased by RAF during his London trip last July 2019.
Joséphine (French [?o.ze.fin d??bo.a?.n?] born Marie Josèphe Rose Tascher de La Pagerie 23 June 1763 – 29 May 1814) was the first wife of Napoleon, and the first Empress of the French after he proclaimed himself Emperor.
Her marriage to Napoleon was her second her first husband, Alexandre de Beauharnais, was guillotined during the Reign of Terror, and she was imprisoned in the Carmes Prison until five days after his execution. Her two children by Beauharnais became significant to royal lineage. Through her daughter, Hortense, she was the maternal grandmother of Napoleon III. Through her son, Eugène, she was the great-grandmother of later Swedish and Danish kings and queens. The reigning houses of Belgium, Norway and Luxembourg also descend from her. She did not bear Napoleon any children as a result, he divorced her in 1810 to marry Marie Louise of Austria.
Joséphine was the recipient of numerous love letters written by Napoleon, many of which still exist. Her Château de Malmaison was noted for its magnificent rose garden, which she supervised closely, owing to her passionate interest in roses, collected from all over the world.
