Sword gifted to HMS Northumberland captain by Napoleon as thanks for wine sells for £38,000

Captain James Kearney White was dispatched in his ship Peruvian to Guernsey to pick up a supply of wine for the French Emperor's consumption in 1815.

He subsequently befriended Napoleon in St Helena and was presented with a parting reward 209 years ago - a 2.5ft (31ins) curved steel blade.

An engraving on the scimitar reads "From Napoleon Buonaparte / To Captn. James Kearney White / St. Helena, October 1815 / HMS Northumberland".

The etched weapon has remained in the same family for generations and has been hanging on a wall in the north of England where it has been sporadically polished by a cleaner.

Its owners finally decided to part with the historical treasure from the end of the Napoleonic Wars and it went under the hammer.

The sword was bought by a private French collector for £38,000 when it was sold at Charles Miller Ltd in London.

Other swords belonging to Captain White were offered for sale including "one of the richest prizes in seafaring history".

The silver-mounted Spanish Cutlass that was taken by Admiral Lord Anson from the fabled ‘Manilla Galleon’ in 1743 but failed to reach it's guide price of £30,000-50,000.

However, a Lloyds patriotic fund sword presented to him for capturing the Dutch brig Atalante in 1804 fetched £7,440.

Charles Miller, maritime specialist, said: "It was a privilege to handle such an historic artefact belonging to Napoleon and I am very happy that is it crossing the Channel again and going back to France where it belongs.

"Napoleon and White clearly recognised and respected each other as professionals in their respective fields.

"White had already earned a Lloyds sword for heroic conduct and Napoleon, a recently vanquished Emperor, was one of the greatest military tacticians of the era.

"I have no doubt they shared a lot of common interests and, on a personal level, had no reason to behave as anything less than the gentlemen they were and clearly became friends of a sort."