Unusual. How the golden throne of the bloodthirsty emperor Bokassa I revived a castle near Montpellier

Jean-Bedel Bokassa s'était fait couronner empereur à Bangui le 4 décembre 1977. Keystone Pictures USA – Keystone Pictures USA

The auction, this Sunday, May 26, of a replica of the throne of the dictator of the Central African Republic revives a forgotten episode in the history of Hérault: in 1978, Olivier Brice, a sultry Parisian artist who made his fortune thanks to this controversial coronation, bought the Château de Cambous, in Viols-en-Laval, to create a very short-lived museum, inaugurated by Georges Frêche in 1984.

It measures three meters high, it is made of solid mahogany, gilded with gold leaf, and will be one of the star objects of an auction organized on Sunday May 26 at the castle d’Artigny, near Tours, by the Rouillac house, next to the famous scooter that François Hollande drove to discreetly join Julie Gayet from the Elysée. This extraordinary seat is a perfect replica& nbsp;from the throne of the bloodthirsty dictator of the Central African Republic Jean-Bedel Bokassa, self-proclaimed emperor in Bangui on December 4, 1977, and made by the Parisian brand  Percier and Fontaine.

"Not at all here to glorify this dictator"

"I am not at all here to glorify this unsavory dictator" insists  Rémi le Forestier, manager of this company specializing in historical style furniture, "for the hotel industry, events, or cinema& quot; and leader for fifteen years in a niche market: thrones.

The life-size copy of the throne offered for sale. Percier and Fontaine

"We sell around a hundred of them per year in Europe, many for commercial operations at Christmas, but also for rap clips.&nbsp ;It was while preparing an exhibition on thrones, in 2023 at the Château des Princes de Condé, in Aisne, that I’ I had the idea to show our know-how: it's a bit like the king of thrones, I don't know a more imposing one. Eight months of work later, the copy of Bokassa's seat was exhibited alongside the iron copy of Game of Throne. Since then, the company has tried, in vain, to sell it.

€10,000 for this monumental replica of the Bokassa throne

If you have very high ceilings and a lot of space at home, you can treat yourself to the replica of the throne of Emperor Bokassa, on sale this Sunday, May 26 by the Rouillac house at the Château d& ;rsquo;Artigny, near Tours. And it is also at the same starting price that the famous scooter that belonged to François Hollande is being auctioned, with which he was going to discreetly join Julie Gayet from the Elysée.

A significant episode in the history of the Hérault department

But beyond the anecdote, the image of this imperial seat revives the memory of an episode which marked the department of Hérault . Because on January 31, 1978, less than two months after the coronation of the former captain of the French army, who became head of the Central African Republic via a coup d'état in 1966 , an artist buys for 1.3 million francs a building threatened by decay near Montpellier. A story told in detail by the Hérault scholar Christian Pioch, in a well-documented work.*

Estimated at the time at 2.5 million francs

Olivier Brice, an artist who at the age of 45 became the new owner of the Château de Cambous, in Viols-en-Laval, not far from Pic-Saint-Loup, then rolled into gold: c’ is the creator of the famous golden throne of Bokassa I, estimated at the time at 2.5 million francs. He also decorated the gleaming carriage of this ephemeral African monarch, fascinated by Napoleon, and sewed his wardrobe for the ceremony. Because the man has several strings to his bow: he began his professional life in haute couture in Paris, under the name Michel Tellin. He mixes his talents by creating sculptures covered in drapery, which attract the eye: it was after seeing his Venus de Milo in Beaubourg in 1976 that the cultural advisors of Bokassa entrusts him with the imperial ceremony deal.

A dictator accused of cannibalism

A very controversial jackpot: the sulphurous dictator is accused of having massacred children and ruining his people. It is said that he throws his opponents to the crocodiles, that he is also a cannibal…

"This amused me much more than it reported. If it's not bad jealousy in Paris, what pushed me to come and go green, to take a step back" explains& nbsp;Olivier Brice at Midi Libre, July 13, 1982. The artist highlights his need for space to justify the ’ rsquo;purchase of the castle: "I made monumental sculptures and I was obliged to destroy them once the exhibitions were over.

A fellow defrocked Trappist monk

Between 1978 and 1984, he and his companion, a former Trappist monk from Barcelona who became a painter, embarked on the renovation of this listed castle historic monument, while running his luxury clothing boutique.

"When I die, the country will inherit it and my wish is that it becomes a museum" insists this strange character  who says he is close to Salvador Dali, and suggests having been very intimate with him. In June 1983, the castle was classified as a historic monument, then opened to the public. On June 29, 1984, Georges Frêche, deputy mayor of Montpellier, officially inaugurated the museum which exhibited hundreds of works by Olivier Brice and his companion as well as master paintings. ;: Cézanne, Dali, Daumier, Masson, Picasso, Rodin, and creations by César or Vasarely.

Caught up with a colossal tax debt

But after the candlelight dinner in the castle park, and the sumptuous fireworks show put on that evening, the Cambous museum will not last long ;: it closed in May 1985, when Olivier Brice, caught up in a colossal tax debt of several million francs, urgently evacuated his works to Belgium, and left the premises permanently. Not without having welcomed a highly symbolic visit before his departure: Jean-Bedel Bokassa himself, dismissed and exiled in France in 1979, after being driven from power. The fallen emperor insisted on coming and seeing at the Château de Cambous, just before its ruin, the man who had made his wealth.

The Château de Cambous, Rural Arts and Traditions, 2 016. I subscribe to read more