The weapons were created by  Paris gunmaker Louis-Marin Gosset.

They were sold at the Osenat auction house on Sunday - next to the Fontainebleau palace where Napoleon tried to take his own life following his abdication in 1814, reports BBC.

The sale of pistols occurred just days after  France's culture ministry classified them as national treasures and even banned them for export.

This means the French government now has 30 months to make a purchase offer to the new owner, who has not been named. It also means the pistols can only leave France temporarily, BBC reported.

The iconic guns are inlaid with gold and silver and feature and engraved images of Napoleon in the profile.

He was said to have wanted to use them to kill himself on the night of 12 April, 1814 after the defeat of his army by foreign forces meant he had to give up power, BBC reported.

His grand squire Armand de Caulaincourt removed the powder from the guns and Napoleon later consumed poison but survived.