Shock as Bonaparte brooch sells for £50,000 at auction

A CAMEO brooch which belonged to Napoleon Bonaparte’s younger sister, and was given to her Scottish god-daughter has stunned experts after it sold at auction for more than £50,000.

The intricate brooch, which was found in a house in East Lothian, had never been seen in public.

It was owned by the extravagant Caroline Bonaparte in the early 19th century.

It was designed by the Roman gem-engraver Nicolo Morelli who was patronised by Napoleon I and the Bonaparte family, and it depicts Bacchus, the Greco-Roman god of wine and ecstasy.

Caroline Bonaparte gave the brooch to her Scottish god-daughter Caroline Moore some time after 1815, and the gift has remained in her family for almost 200 years.

The brooch was sold by Moore’s great-great-great-niece, who lives in an East Lothian village.

It was expected to fetch £6000 to £8000 when it went under the hammer at Bonham’s Fine Jewellery sale in London, but it was eventually bought for £51,650 by an English collector.