Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte (1785 - 1879) is often remembered for her short but remarkable marriage in 1803 to Napoleon's youngest brother, Jerome Napoleon Bonaparte. Although their mésalliance resulted in divorce, their union set her and future generations of American Bonapartes on a path that allied them with France and an imperial legacy. From her fashion to her silver, jewels, and furniture, Elizabeth Bonaparte's self-presentation proclaimed her French connections and her obsessive documentation of her possessions reveals a complex narrative that spans multiple generations and reaches from the streets of Baltimore to the shores of Denmark today.

Alexandra Deutsch, a graduate of Vassar College and the Winterthur Program in American Material Culture, is the John L. and Marjorie P. McGraw Director of Collections at the Winterthur Museum. She leads Winterthur’s Collections Division that includes curatorial, conservation, registration, exhibitions, estate history, interpretation and programming. Prior to arriving at Winterthur in 2019, she was Vice-President of Collections and Interpretation and Chief Curator at the Maryland Center for History and Culture, formerly the Maryland Historical Society. Her publications include Spectrum of Fashion (2019), Structure and Perspective: David Brewster Explores Maryland’s Social Landscape (2017) and Woman of Two Worlds: Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte (2016) and she has written and lectured about various topics in American material culture throughout her career with a particular emphasis on women’s and fashion history.