Imperial Chopper Thought to Belong to Napoleon Sold At Auction

By Mark Hoerrner

Usually, it’s the dental work and not the tooth itself that comes with a hefty bill. Now one private collector will be getting a dental bill of another kind from British auction house Dominic Winter when he picks up his winning buy.

The object of the auction, a tooth thought to have been pulled from the mouth of Napoleon Bonaparte, France’s legendary "little emperor," during his exile on the island of St. Helena. Bonaparte was on St. Helena after his historic defeat at Waterloo in 1812. The tooth has been glued to a card with a note in a small glass box.

The tooth was given to General Maceroni, aid de camp to the King of Naples by Barry O’Meara, Napoleon’s personal physician. Maceroni was married to Napoleon’s youngest daughter. The seller of the tooth obtained it from the Maceroni estate in 1956.

Historians believe the tooth was extracted in 1817 by O’Meara. Records show that Napoleon was suffering from a toothache in 1816 and that he had a mouth disease later diagnosed as "scurvy."

Dr. Alexander Baxter, deputy inspector of hospitals on St. Helena, wrote a letter to France’s government in 1817, stating:

"I have the honor to inform your Excellency that Napoleon Bonaparte suffered a good deal from Toothack on the night of the 15th instant, and in consequence was at last induced to permit Mr. O'Meara to extract the dent sapientie of the right side of the upper jaw. This is the first surgical operation that has ever been performed upon his body. The tooth was carrious in two places."

The hammer fell on the auction stand at £11,000 (roughly $19,000) and the auction house added on its fees, taking the total sale price to nearly £13,000 (roughly $22,000).