House of Habsburg, riding hat of Empress Elisabeth or of her daughter Archduchess Marie Valerie
realized price € 134.500

Last night, a riding hat became the most expensive piece of Habsurg memorabilia at the Dorotheum’s annual imperial auction in Vienna. Once the property of Empress Elisabeth, known as Sisi, or possibly her daughter the Archduchess Marie Valerie, the top hat galloped past its presale estimate of €2,000 to 4,000 euros, selling for a staggering €134,500. Other highlights of the sale included a cigar box with two cigars once belonging to Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria, which fetched a handsome €34,460, and a lock of his hair taken when he was three, which achieved €14,940.