Jean-Baptiste Jules Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Crown Prince of Sweden (later Charles XIV John of Sweden and Charles III John of Norway) Portrait Snuff Box, After Morel. The box dates to circa 1810 - 1818.
Possibly of lacquered papier mache constuction with a tortoiseshell interior and inset copper medallion. The date of birth on the medallion shown as 1764, instead of 1763.
Bernadotte (1763 - 1844) joined the pre-revolutionary French Army in around 1780, becoming commissioned in 1791. He fought the First Coalition on the Rhine & Flanders, being promoted to Divisonal General in 1794. He took part in the Italian campaigns of 1796-97.
During the War of the Second Coalition Bernadotte commanded 48,000 troops on the Rhine around Mannheim. He briefly held the position of War Minister in 1799, in the same year that the coup brought Napoleon to power.
Bernadotte was made Governor of Hanover in 1804 and was one of the original Marshalate, commanding troops during the Grande Armée's adavance into Bavaria against the Third Coalition in 1805. His troops were at Ulm and Austerlitz in 1805 and he was noted for his lenient treatment of Swedish prisoners of war at Lübeck. He returned to frontline duties in 1809, leading forces against the Fifth Coalition, but dismissed after his poor performance at Wagram.
Sweden elected Bernadotte as heir to the childless King Charles XIII in August 1810. This was seen as a move to cultivate friendship with France. The new Crown Prince of Sweden abandoned France for his adopted country, taking effective control over affairs of state and initiating alliance with Russia by the St Petersburg treaty of 1812. The following year he committed Sweden to the Sixth Coalition and led his army in Germany, inflicting a major defeat on Ney's corps at Dennewitz in September 1813. His alliances with Russia, Great Britain and Prussia defeated Napoleon at Leipzig in 1813.
He reigned as King of Sweden from 1818 until 1844.
Approximate weight is 84 grams.
Approximate dimensions are 8.3 cm diameter and 2.5 cm height.
In fair condition with some flea bite nibbles around the cover edge. There are some dints/pressure marks to the copper medallion. The interior tortoiseshell rim is damaged and has had a glue repair, as per the photos. There is a slight gap when the cover is put onto the base. The box still displays well.
