Circa 1810
Measurements: Overall: 40cm x 33cm (15.75in x 13in)
Ex: Hazlitt Gooden & Fox, London
French School. Pencil and watercolour sketch of a trumpeter of the Empress’ Dragoons of the Imperial Guard in full dress uniform, 1806-15 (image 24cm x 18cm)
The Empress’s Dragoons were raised in recognition of the distinguished service of the line dragoons in the 1805 German Campaign. The officers were hand picked by Napoleon and, besides a squadron of vélites, its rank and file were former line dragoons of ten years’ service. The regiment became known as the Régiment de dragons de l'Impératrice (the Empress' Dragoons) in tribute to their patroness, Josephine de Beauharnais, and up until its last member died, the regiment marked the anniversary of her death. As with line dragoons, the uniform was distinguished by the Neo-Greek Minerve style helmet with hanging mane.