Louis XVI Blood To Be Auctioned Off In France; Cloth Dipped In King’s Blood Following Beheading Found In Family’s Decorative Gourd

Louis XVI blood will be auctioned on April 3, 2013 in France.

Louis XVI's blood was initially collected on a cloth during his 1793 beheading in France, when an angry mob attacked the King of France and Parisian citizens "jostled to take souvenirs after the execution including snippets of the monarch's hair."

The angry French peasants also reportedly "dipped their garments or cloth in the pool of blood left near the guillotine."

The cloth holding Louis XVI's blood is one of the last remaining pieces from the execution. It is scheduled to be auctioned with a silver buckle, reportedly from the king's shoe.

The bloody cloth may require further DNA testing to prove that it is an authentic piece.

Expert Cyrille Boulay told AFP that only a DNA test on the cloth could prove if the it truly contained Louis XVI's blood.

Earlier in 2013, the cloth was discovered in a 'decorative gourd'.

However, according to the BBC, "scientists said the DNA is very similar to genetic material from what is believed to be the mummified head of an earlier French king."

The BBC continued to explain that the gourd had been possessed by an Italian family for over 100 years, and was a source of DNA for scientists.

"Analysis of DNA taken from the blood traces found inside the vegetable container had already revealed that it probably matched someone of Louis' description but scientists could not prove it belonged to the beheaded king as they had no genetic material from any of his relatives," the BBC explained.

The gourd was inscribed to read, "on January 21, Maximilien Bourdaloue dipped his handkerchief in the blood of Louis XVI after his decapitation."

The auction will take place on April 3 at Hotel Drouot, according to Coutau Begarie, a French auction house.