Viva La... Hair?

[RationalGoblin]

Link (http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1290817/Napoleon%27s-hair-fetches-$US13,000)



A lock of hair cut from the head of former French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte sold for just over $US13,000 ($A15,348) in an auction in New Zealand on Tuesday.

The lock was bought by an unnamed collector in London, according to Hamish Coney, managing director of auctioneers Art+Object.

The hair, in a tightly-bound circle, was cut the morning after Napoleon's death on the Atlantic island of St Helena in 1821.

Bidders from New Zealand, Lithuania, London, Hong Kong, the United States and France vied for the hair and about 40 other items related to Napoleon that sold for a total of almost $US100,000 ($A118,064) at the Auckland auction.

The collection was sold by the descendants of Denzil Ibbetson, a British military officer and artist who served on St Helena where Napoleon was detained by the British from 1815 until his death in 1821 aged 51.

Ibbetson's diary, which sold for $US6,600 ($A7,792), described conversations with Napoleon, who still harboured ambitions of invading Britain despite his defeat at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.

"The thing that surprised me was the diary going for a lot less than I thought, but the lock of hair went for a lot more than I thought," Coney told the Dominion Post newspaper.

The collection, which had been kept shut away in a suitcase for many years, included about 25 watercolour or pen depictions by Ibbetson of Napoleon and scenes from St Helena.

A lithograph and watercolour image of Napoleon on his deathbed achieved the highest bid in the auction of $US14,600 ($A17,237).

The collection was brought to New Zealand in 1864 by Ibbetson's son and had been kept in the family until the auction.


I figure that even with a historical figure, this is pretty much non-political as it gets, so it could be fun to talk about.

The thing I find most interesting is that Napoleon's journal (IN WHICH HE DETAILED THAT HE WANTED TO INVADE ENGLAND EVEN AFTER LOSING EVERYTHING. TWICE.) sold for less then a single lock of his hair.

Is part of the physical appearance of a famous person now considered more important then their actual thoughts, or does the buyer of the hair have a more... sinister purpose? Perhaps cloning? :smallbiggrin:

[Crimmy]

Is part of the physical appearance of a famous person now considered more important then their actual thoughts, or does the buyer of the hair have a more... sinister purpose? Perhaps cloning? :smallbiggrin:

I hope not. Besides, cloning should be worth the effort. I don't think making a shorty is worth the effort. Now, if it were, say, Solid Snake, then I would consider it.

[Coidzor]

I think it's just the wanting Napoleonic DNA, really. haha.

Say, to put the unbridled ambition of Napoleon into the hardened battlebody of Snake... :smalleek:

[Cealocanth]

I find it kind of strange that Napoleon's hair sold for more than his diary. But if you have the DNA, you have all the information to a person except for memories and thoughts. I'd rather go for the diary myself.

[absolmorph]

I hope not. Besides, cloning should be worth the effort. I don't think making a shorty is worth the effort. Now, if it were, say, Solid Snake, then I would consider it.
Heck, I wouldn't even clone Solid Snake unless I had a way to age and train him really quickly and effectively.
Hanners can explain why for me. (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1609)

[Eldan]

Napoleon wasn't that short, really.

Am I misremembering, or could you test for arsenic poisoning in hair?

[Killer Angel]

Am I misremembering, or could you test for arsenic poisoning in hair?

You're remembering right, but I hope no one really wants to spend money, only to test again what's already proved (http://cerncourier.com/cws/article/cern/33792)...

[Dallas-Dakota]

I hope not. Besides, cloning should be worth the effort. I don't think making a shorty is worth the effort. Now, if it were, say, Solid Snake, then I would consider it.
So because a man is off shorter stature then you, you consider him lesser then you? Even so much as to say that we shouldn't clone because of that.

Bah, you-
No, scrap that, I don't want to get banned.
I just hope you wisen up some time and start viewing humans as equals and regarding them on their personality instead of genetics which they can't change.

But yeah, reading this, it's strange that the diary hasn't been sold for more.

[Fifty-Eyed Fred]

Napoleon wasn't that short, really.

Indeed; he merely happened to surround himself with rather tall bodyguards, and consequently appeared shorter by comparison.

Also, that is interesting. Even after his ruination at the hands of such men as Lord Nelson here *points to avatar* he still wanted to invade England, even detailing his plans in his diary, and yet people would rather buy a lock of his hair? What's wrong with them?

[Killer Angel]

So because a man is off shorter stature then you, you consider him lesser then you? Even so much as to say that we shouldn't clone because of that.


I think it was a case of irony and internet, not stature-racism...


Indeed; he merely happened to surround himself with rather tall bodyguards, and consequently appeared shorter by comparison.

Also, that is interesting. Even after his ruination at the hands of such men as Lord Nelson here *points to avatar* he still wanted to invade England, even detailing his plans in his diary, and yet people would rather buy a lock of his hair? What's wrong with them?

Indeed, the comparison with the tall grenadiers, didn't help Napo...
Regarding Nelson: to be fair, Nelson beated the french navy (thus effectively partecipating in England's victory), but he didn't face directly Napoleon.

[Satyr]

Didn't someone try to sell M. Bonaparte's penis a few years ago?

[Boo]

I would think people would be more interested in Rasputin's thingy.

[RationalGoblin]

I would think people would be more interested in Rasputin's thingy.

Let's not go down that road of thinking. That way lies madness.

[Moff Chumley]

I would think people would be more interested in Rasputin's thingy.

I'd sig that, if I wasn't Mod-Paranoid...

[Quincunx]

And sea cucumbers.

But yes, the value of Napoleon's hair was probably enhanced by those tests done a few years back to answer the mystery of his death. Pathological analysis of the long-dead is gratifying. Sure, human knowledge didn't have the answer then, but hey! we eventually figured it out! (And we extend apologies back down the centuries that the sufferers were subjected to the foolish doctors of the day, whose 'treatments' exacerbated that rare disease.)

[T-O-E]

I find it kind of strange that Napoleon's hair sold for more than his diary. But if you have the DNA, you have all the information to a person except for memories and thoughts. I'd rather go for the diary myself.

With both, you have everything. :smalltongue:


I hope not. Besides, cloning should be worth the effort. I don't think making a shorty is worth the effort. Now, if it were, say, Solid Snake, then I would consider it.

He was 5 foor 7.

[GolemsVoice]

People are probably wary of buying the diaries of leaders who tried, but ultimately failed to invade England. Just sayin'

[Jokasti]

With both, you have everything. :smalltongue:



He was 5 foor 7.

Is the foor equivalent to an inch?

[Gorgondantess]

He was 5 foot 7.

...For the time, wouldn't that be quite tall?

And, also, the diary was not Napoleon's- read the article. It was Ibbetson's diary, it just happened to contain descriptions of some of his conversations with Napoleon.

[Coplantor]

Wikipedia
...Confusion about his height also results from the difference between the French pouce and British inch—2.71 and 2.54 cm respectively; he was about 1.7 metres (5 ft 7 in) tall, average height for the period....

So, I'm about Napoleon's height? Huh, he might have been taller than me.

[Asta Kask]

You couldn't clone with a lock of hair cut from his head - you need the roots to clone someone. And also some technical expertise we haven't got yet.

But we're working on it!

[skywalker]

...For the time, wouldn't that be quite tall?

About average, honestly. Perhaps a little taller than usual in France, but when you consider the European perspective on height (look up period depictions of Charlemegne), Napoleon was not nearly as tall as he "should have been."

A grand conqueror should match his military prowess with physical size, after all.


And, also, the diary was not Napoleon's- read the article. It was Ibbetson's diary, it just happened to contain descriptions of some of his conversations with Napoleon.

This. It's very, very important to note. I'd wager Napoleon's diary would easily command 6 figures, if not 7.

[Coidzor]

A grand conqueror should match his military prowess with physical size, after all.

Not to mention virility.:smallamused:

[Asta Kask]

A grand conqueror should match his military prowess with physical size, after all.

Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size, do you? Hmm? Hmm.

[BlueWizard]

I wonder if it is gray?

[RationalGoblin]

Not to mention virility.:smallamused:


Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size, do you? Hmm? Hmm.


I would make a joke about these two quotes; but it's probably not forum appropriate.

So instead, I'll make the comment that yeah, Napoleon's hair is/was probably gray, since he was in his 50s at the time of his death, as well as having stress-inducing (and therefore hair-graying) stomach cancer.

[Mina Kobold]

...For the time, wouldn't that be quite tall?

Yes it would, Napoleon was of at least average height in the days.

There was just that pesky thing with French feet (measuring) being longer than English thus he was described as being "only" 4 feet and some inches, propaganda did the rest :smallsmile:

Also, cloning is indeed silly. They obviously wanted to Speak With The Dead to ask him were his giant robot was hidden :smalltongue:

[RationalGoblin]

Yes it would, Napoleon was of at least average height in the days.

There was just that pesky thing with French feet (measuring) being longer than English thus he was described as being "only" 4 feet and some inches, propaganda did the rest :smallsmile:

Also, cloning is indeed silly. They obviously wanted to Speak With The Dead to ask him were his giant robot was hidden :smalltongue:

Nonono, they were obviously using his hair to conduct a crazy voodoo ritual to revive Napoleon as a zombie general! :smalltongue:

As for the French feet, yeah, there's a reason they only had the alternate system of measurement for a few years. Too bad it turned out to be the years Napoleon was in power. :smallbiggrin:

[Closet_Skeleton]

I wonder if it is gray?


So instead, I'll make the comment that yeah, Napoleon's hair is/was probably gray, since he was in his 50s at the time of his death, as well as having stress-inducing (and therefore hair-graying) stomach cancer.

It's probably red, since dead people tend to have red hair even if they didn't in life (see mummies for an example).

[Eldan]

Nonono, they were obviously using his hair to conduct a crazy voodoo ritual to revive Napoleon as a zombie general! :smalltongue:


Actually, Napoleon's hair makes you invincible. He's a direct descendent of Samson.