Founded by one-time Parisian wallpaper dealer Ferdinand Barbedienne and engineer Achille Collas, one of the most revered foundries in 19th-century France began with the invention of a revolutionary 1830s-era device that could produce proportional reproductions — large or small — of sculptures. Collas’s machine, which yielded miniature likenesses of antiquities for the interiors of homes the world over, was pivotal to the success of the F. Barbedienne Foundry. The successful firm earned prestigious awards and critical acclaim and created exquisite bronze candleholders, clocks and lamps for a range of wealthy and prominent clients.
The duo first launched their company under the name Société Collas et Barbedienne, and early on, they optimized chemical processes for pigmenting and patinating their bronze statuettes. After Collas died in 1859, Barbedienne forged on alone, and the company’s name changed to simply F. Barbedienne.
Barbedienne employed more than 300 workers at that point, and the Maison created a range of furnishings and decorative objects that featured the integration of marble and ormolu accents. However, with the onset of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, the foundry was forced to retrofit its molds, and the production of cannons replaced sculptures, furniture and vases.
When Ferdinand Barbedienne passed away in 1891, his nephew and heir, Gustave Leblanc, took over as president, changing the name to Leblanc-Barbedienne. Leblanc expanded production into Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States, carrying on the company's legacy with monumental sculptures, and models and securing production rights for famous statues. Paul-Alexandre Dumas, an Art Nouveau maker and student of Louis Majorelle, succeeded Leblanc until the company's closing in 1952.
Barbedienne pieces had been exhibited regularly in the 19th century and were especially prevalent at Europe’s international expositions and world’s fairs, where they received numerous awards. Today, the Musée d’Orsay in Paris holds dozens of Barbedienne works in its collection, including intricate mirrors, vases and cups created by Louis-Constant Sévin at the foundry. For more than two decades, Sévin created lamps, boxes and more at Maison Barbedienne. Working alongside award-winning chaser Désiré Attarge, Sévin designed Napoleon III-era works that greatly appealed to European nobility.
Other notable artists who collaborated with Barbedienne included Eugene Aizelin, Emmanuel Fremiet, Antonin Mercié, Emile Guillemin, Edouard Lievre, Ferdinand Levillain and Auguste Rodin.
On 1stDibs, find a collection of Barbedienne decorative objects, lighting and collectibles.
| Average Sold Price |
| $6,621 |
| Styles |
| Materials |
| Related Creators |
$1,500Sale Price|57% Off
H 7.5 in Dm 10.75 in
Antique French F. Barbedienne Ormolu Bronze and Crystal Centerpiece
By F. Barbedienne Foundry
Located in Long Island City, NY
A fine antique French Empire cut crystal round shaped centerpiece bowl with a wavy edge. Mounted in a footed hand chiseled ormolu mount decora...
Crystal, Ormolu
$4,000Sale Price|31% Off
H 26.38 in W 21 in D 13 in
“A la terre!” French Antique Bronze Sculpture by Alfred Boucher & Barbedienne
By F. Barbedienne Foundry, Alfred Boucher
Located in Shippensburg, PA
Bronze sculpture model of "A La Terre!" (1890) after Alfred Boucher Signed to naturalistic base "A. Boucher", inscribed "F. Barbedienne Fondeur" Item # 008AMH08W This powerful mode...
Bronze
$46,000Sale Price|20% Off
H 27.25 in W 22.5 in D 27.25 in
Louis XVI Style Gilt-Bronze Mantel Clock by Henri Picard & Fedinand Barbedienne
By F. Barbedienne Foundry
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A Very Fine French 19th Century Gilt-Bronze Figural Mantel Clock, Horloge à Poser, by Henri Picard and Fedinand Barbedienne - ‘F. Barbédienne & Cie. / A Paris’, after the model by É...
Bronze, Ormolu
$23,200
H 27 in W 18 in D 9 in
Monumental French Patinated Bronze Bust of William Shakespeare, After Houdon
By F. Barbedienne Foundry
Located in Long Island City, NY, NY
A monumental French patinated bronze bust of William Shakespeare, after Houdon, by F. Barbedienne Foundry, circa 1870. Masterfully and realistically sculpted in solid bronze, this...
Bronze
$2,960Sale Price|32% Off
H 6.13 in W 10.38 in D 3 in
French Antique Bronze Sculpture"Walking Tiger"by Antoine-Louis Barye, Barbedienn
By F. Barbedienne Foundry, Antoine-Louis Barye
Located in Shippensburg, PA
ANTOINE-LOUIS BARYE French, 1795-1875 "Tigre Qui Marche" Patinated bronze Signed in base "BARYE", incised "F. BARBEDIENNE FONDEUR, FRANCE" conceived 1841, cast circa 1880-1900 Item # 110UGP10Q Barye's ability to merge our romantic idealization of nature with a colder reality of nature's predator is beautifully represented in this striding cat. Originally conceived in 1841, Tigre Qui Marche (Walking Tiger...
Marble, Bronze
19th Century Gloria Victis bronze statue, By Barbedienne.
By J.A. Mercie 1, F. Barbedienne Foundry
Located in Brighton, Sussex
A very impressive 19th Century patinated bronze statue of 'Gloria Victis' with gilded highlights. Raised on a marble plinth. Signed; A MERCIE Stamped; F. BARBEDIENNE Gloria Victis wa...
Marble, Bronze
$59,500
H 15.36 in W 27.56 in D 12.6 in
"Galata Morente" Sculpture in Bronze, sign: F. Barbedienne Fonduer
By F. Barbedienne Foundry
Located in Ciudad Autónoma Buenos Aires, C
F. Barbedienne fonduer Ferdinand Barbedienne (6 August 1810 – 21 March 1892) was a French metalworker and manufacturer, who was well known as a bronze founder. The son of a small farmer from Calvados, he started his career as a dealer in wallpaper in Paris. In 1838 he went into partnership with Achille Collas (1795-1859), who had just invented a machine to create miniature bronze replicas of statues. Together they started a business selling miniatures of antique statues from museums all over Europe, thus democratising art and making it more accessible to households.[2] From 1843 they extended their scope by reproducing the work of living artists and also diversified by making enamelled household objects. With the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian war in 1870 the firm briefly had to switch to cannon founding owing to the shortage of metals but resumed business afterwards. Following Barbedienne's death in 1892, he was buried in the Père-Lachaise cemetery and the firm was carried on by his nephew Gustave Leblanc until 1952. Among the principal artists reproduced by the firm were Antoine Louis Barye and Auguste Rodin. The Dying Galata (Italian: Galata morente...
Bronze
$92,937Sale Price|20% Off
H 85.44 in W 14.18 in D 14.18 in
A large pair French 19th century patinated bronze figural torchès
By François-Christophe-Armand Toussaint, F. Barbedienne Foundry
Located in Brighton, Sussex
François-Christophe-Armand Toussaint (1806-1862) A large pair of French mid-19th century gilt and patinated bronze figural torchères: Esclave Indien and Esclave Indienne cast by F. Barbedienne (before 1869) from models by Toussaint dated 1850 the male and female figures each holding aloft glass flame shades, on panelled chamfered rectangular black marble plinths, the bronze pedestals of cylindrical baluster form with acanthus leaf collars and four engaged foliate scroll corbel supports with fluted ornament, on circular socles cast in the form of ribbon-bound laurel garlands, each signed A.Toussaint 1850 and Fondeur F.Barbedienne, 36cm wide, 36cm deep, 217cm high (14in wide, 14in deep, 85in high). the figures 112cm high (44in high Armand Toussaint first exhibited a plaster model at the 1847 Salon in Paris entitled "Un esclave indien portant une torche" along with its female pendant...
Bronze
| Sold Date | Sold Price | Category | Material | Creation Year | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| $6,621 |
Average sold price of items in the past 12 months |
| $1,305-$18,500 |
| Sold price range of items in the past 12 months |