The hat was originally accompanied by a receipt for its purchase by Jackson and a slip from the milliner confirming it was one supplied by him to to Napoleon and itemising repairs carried out (these papers no longer accompany the hat).

The hat, reputedly Napoleon's, is of a style (laid down by in the designs for the official costumes of government by the painter David) consistent with those worn by French officers during the Consulate and beginning of the 1st Empire, apart from the cockade (a patriotic symbol which emerged when worn by the Paris Militia, first combining the red and blue of the House of Orléans and the City of Paris, to which the Marquis de La Fayette added the white of the Bourbons, to make the tricolour), riband and button.

Napoleon's simple hats, chosen to be worn with any style of costume, were bought from the Paris chapelier Poupart (et Cie) and cost 60 francs apiece. He is thought to have got through at least one a month between 1802 and 1815. Once out of shape, Napoleon's director of the Imperial Wardrobe, M. Gervais, passed them to his launderer who used them as grips for working with hot irons. One of Napoleon's favourite hats was buried with him and a handful survive in museums and in private collections.