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 prizes. 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 antique Ferdinand Barbedienne decorative objects, lighting and more.
A Monumental Patinated Bronze Bust of Jesus Christ by Clesinger and Barbedienne
By Ferdinand Barbedienne
Located in Queens, NY
A Monumental and Truly Exceptional French Patinated Bronze Bust of Jesus Christ, Circa 1858, Signed J. Clesinger, Rome 1858 & F. Barbedienne Fondeur This monumental and extraord...
Bronze
An Important Pair of Monumental Parcel-Gilt and Patinated Bronze Figural Torchèr
By Ferdinand Barbedienne
Located in New York, NY
Mounted as lamps and cast by Ferdinand Barbedienne after models by Alexandre Falguiere and Paul Dubois. Both statues are signed on the bases. These fine torchères are reductions of...
Bronze
$3,304
Henry IV child, King of France, after the original from Francois Joseph Bosio
By Ferdinand Barbedienne
Located in Riga, LV
Henry IV child, King of France, after the original from Francois Joseph Bosio (1768-1845). Bronze, silver plated.
Bronze
$4,661
H 9.85 in W 28.75 in D 6.7 in
Else FÜRST (1873-1943), Fasane Foundry stamp of the Berlin foundry Kraas
Located in Berlin, DE
Else Fürst was a German sculptor and medalist who was murdered by the Nazis. Biographical data: Bronze signed Foundry stamp of the Berlin foundry Kraas. 25 x 73 cm Born: June 25,...
Bronze
$1,593
H 11.82 in W 2.56 in D 4.73 in
Fleur – Charlotte by Nando Kallweit. Elegant bronze figurative sculpture
By Nando Kallweit
Located in Coltishall, GB
Fleur – Charlotte is an elegant figurative bronze sculpture by Nando Kallweit. Inspired by the the legend of the phoenix, this female figure has graceful wings instead of arms. The...
Bronze
$11,078
H 12.21 in W 7.88 in
Bufo Contemporary Bronze Sculpture Nude Boy Marble Stone Male Figure
By Wim van der Kant
Located in Utrecht, NL
Bufo Contemporary Bronze Sculpture Nude Boy Marble Stone Male Figure Wim van der Kant (1949, Kampen) is a selftaught artist. Next to his busy profession as a teacher at a high school, he intensively practises his profession as a sculptor. Only when his work would measure up to his own standards, he decided to present it to the rest of the world. In 1995, he exhibited for the first time with Morren Galleries. Van der Kant desires to sculpt young people who still stand uninhibited and curiously in life. The reason he chooses to sculpt boys is, because he is one himself, this way the subject is closer to him. The anatomy of his figures testify of perfectionism. Van der Kant's subjects show similarities with the sculptures from the Greek and Roman antiquity...
Marble, Bronze
$1,350
H 11.5 in W 4.75 in D 2.5 in
Young Goatherder Bronze Sculpture by Oscar Gladenbeck, circa 1900
Located in Rochester, NY
Bronze statue of young goatherder by Oscar Gladenbeck. circa 1900. Signed "Oscar Gladenbeck Friedrichshagen". period sculpted artist sculpture collectio...
Bronze
Volo Standing Male Nude Sculpture Figure Bronze Boy
By Wim van der Kant
Located in Utrecht, NL
Volo Standing Male Nude Sculpture Figure Bronze Boy - Volo is a standing male nude figure in bronze, a boy reaching, in brown patina. This sculpt...
Bronze
$17,449
H 19.69 in W 7.88 in
Ad Dextram Bronze Sculpture Nude Boy Male Figure Marble Stone
By Wim van der Kant
Located in Utrecht, NL
Ad Dextram Bronze Sculpture Nude Boy Male Figure Marble Stone Wim van der Kant (1949, Kampen) is a selftaught artist. Nex...
Marble, Bronze
$17,066
H 17.72 in W 7.88 in
Crepis Bronze Sculpture Nude Boy Male Figure Marble Stone
By Wim van der Kant
Located in Utrecht, NL
Crepis Bronze Sculpture Nude Boy Male Figure Marble Stone Wim van der Kant (1949, Kampen) is a selftaught artist. Next to his busy profession as a teacher at...
Marble, Bronze
$17,531
H 20.87 in W 3.94 in
Aestus Bronze Sculpture Marble Stone Nude Boy Contemporary
By Wim van der Kant
Located in Utrecht, NL
Aestus Bronze Sculpture Marble Stone Nude Boy Contemporary Wim van der Kant (1949, Kampen) is a selftaught artist. Next to his busy profession as a teacher ...
Marble, Bronze
Small Renaissance Lead Sculpture Florence 16th century
Located in Pistoia, IT
Small and fine lead sculpture from the Renaissance period, Italy, Florence, 16th century. It depicts a young woman, richly attired, with the palm of martyrdom and a hand over her he...
Iron
$2,951Sale Price|37% Off
H 44.1 in W 21.26 in D 11.82 in
Italian Baroque carved wood sculpture - Saint Robert - 16th century
Located in Varmo, IT
Italian sculptor (16th century) - Saint Robert. 54 x 30 x h 112 cm. Full-length figure in carved, lacquered, and painted wood. Saint Robert is depicted standing in full figure, id...
Wood, Paint
$2,500
H 18.12 in W 11.03 in D 5.91 in
Gothic Renaissance wooden sculpture: bust of a young Saint or Angel
Located in Norwich, GB
This remarkable, deeply evocative fragment is a hand-carved piece of religious statuary from 16th Century France. It depicts the torso of a serene figure, likely a Saint or Archangel...
Wood
$3,250
H 21 in W 10 in D 7 in
Figure of Crouching Venus/Naked Aphrodite, 19th Century Italian School Sculpture
Located in Beachwood, OH
Bronze Figure of Crouching Venus, or The Naked Aphrodite, 19th Century Italian School Bronze raised on a marble base 21 in. h. x 10 in. w. x 7 in. d., overall 18 in. h. x 8.5 in. w....
Marble, Bronze
Sold
H 15.36 in W 18.12 in D 10.63 in
Wrestlers. Patinated bronze, h 39 cm + 4 cm pedestal, w 46 cm l 27 cm
By Ferdinand Barbedienne
Located in Riga, LV
Wrestlers. Patinated bronze, h 39 cm + 4 cm pedestal, w 46 cm l 27 cm Ferdinand Barbedienne (1810–1892)
Marble, Bronze
Sold
H 34 in W 5.5 in D 5.5 in
Antique French Grand Tour Gilt Bronze Statue on Column Diana the Huntress 1838
By Ferdinand Barbedienne
Located in Portland, OR
A fine & large (34" tall) antique French gilt-bronze on marble column of Diana, cast by Ferdinand Barbedienne (1810-1892) after a statue by Jean Antoine Houdon (1741-1828), the bronz...
Marble, Bronze
Sold
H 10.5 in W 5 in D 5 in
Ferdinand Barbedienne, A French Patinated Bronze Bust of George Washington
By Ferdinand Barbedienne
Located in Queens, NY
Ferdinand Barbedienne, A French patinated bronze bust of George Washington, circa 1880. Signed. F. Barbedienne Fondeur Stamped with the reduction Mecanique seal. Measures: 10.5" hi...
Bronze
Sold
H 19.3 in W 27.17 in D 9.45 in
Laocoon Group - Bronze Sculpture by F. Barbedienne - 19th Century
By Ferdinand Barbedienne
Located in Roma, IT
Laocoon Group is an original Modern artwork realized by Ferdinand Barbedienne (6 August 1810 – 21 March 1892) in the Second half of the 19th Century. Bronze sculpture after the Anti...
Bronze
Sold
H 15 in W 8.5 in
Benoit Rougelet, F. Barbedienne, a White Marble Sculpture of a Putti and Turtle
By Ferdinand Barbedienne
Located in Queens, NY
Benoit Rougelet, F. Barbedienne, a charming French white marble sculpture of a Putti and Turtle, circa 1870. Extremely life-like and charming, this white marble sculpture depicts ...
Marble
Sophocle by Barbedienne
By Ferdinand Barbedienne
Located in Pasadena, CA
Sophocles "in bronze with brown patina. Bearing the mark of the founder F. Barbedienne and the stamp of A. Ferdinand Barbedienne, born , 1810 in Saint-Martin-de-Fresnay1 and died in...
Bronze
Sophocle
By Ferdinand Barbedienne
Located in Pasadena, CA
Sophocles "in bronze with brown patina. Bearing the mark of the founder F. Barbedienne and the stamp of A. Ferdinand Barbedienne, born , 1810 in Saint-Martin-de-Fresnay1 and died in...
Bronze
Sold
H 27.5 in W 27.5 in
The Story of Joseph after Lorenzo Ghiberti's “Gates of Paradise, " Florence
By Ferdinand Barbedienne
Located in New York, NY
Ferdinand Barbedienne (Saint-Martin-de-Fresnay 1810 – 1892 Paris) after Lorenzo Ghiberti (Florence, 1378 – 1455) The Story of Joseph from the Second Baptistery Doors, Florence (“The Gates of Paradise”) Signed at the lower right of the principal relief: F. BARBEDIENNE FONDEUR Nine bronze reliefs set into a wooden frame 27 ½ x 27 ½ inches (70 x 70 cm) The present work is a half-size reduction of nine panels from the famous Gates of Paradise by Lorenzo Ghiberti, made for the Baptistery of Florence and now housed in the Museo del Opera del Duomo. The central scene is one of the most remarkable, The Story of Joseph, comprised of seven episodes from the Biblical narrative integrated into one composition: Joseph cast by his brethren into the well, Joseph sold to the merchants, the merchants delivering Joseph to the pharaoh, Joseph interpreting the pharaoh’s dream, the pharaoh paying him honor, Jacob sending his sons to Egypt, and Joseph recognizes his brothers and returns home. The surrounding reliefs—two vertical figures in niches, two recumbent figures, and four portrait heads in roundels—are as well faithful reductions of Ghiberti’s original bronzes on other parts of the doors. The maker of these casts was the renowned 19th-century French fondeur Ferdinand Barbedienne. Gary Radke has recently written of this great enterprise: “The Parisian bronze caster Ferdinand Barbedienne began making half-sized copies of ancient and Renaissance sculpture in the 1830s. His firm benefitted enormously from the collaboration of Achille Collas, whom Meredith Shedd has shown was one of numerous pioneers in the mechanical reproduction of sculpture. Their competitors largely devoted themselves to reproducing relief sculpture, but Collas devised a process for creating fully three-dimensional copies. A tracing needle, powered by a treadle, moved over the surface of a full-sized plaster cast or bronze of the original and triggered a complementary action in a cutting stylus set over a soft plaster blank…He signed an exclusive contract with Barbedienne on November 29, 1838, and won medals for his inventions in 1839 and 1844. Barbedienne’s half-sized copies of the Gates of Paradise were famous not only for their fidelity to the original, but also for the way their gilding…suggested the glimmering surface that was hidden under centuries of dirt. Some critics even saw Collas’s and Barbedienne’s work as ‘philanthropic, an exemplary adaptation of industry to the requirements of art, the artist, the workers, and the public alike.’ At 25,000 francs, Collas’s and Barbedienne’s reduction of the Gates of Paradise was singularly more expensive than any other item for sale in their shop. All the reliefs, individual statuettes, and busts were cast separately and could be purchased either by the piece or as an ensemble. Fittingly, Barbedienne’s accomplishment earned him the Grand Prix at the 1878 Paris Exposition Universelle, along with numerous other medals.” Only two complete examples of the Barbedienne-Ghiberti doors are known. One, first installed in a chapel in the Villa Demidoff of San Donato near Pratolino, was later acquired by William Vanderbilt...
Bronze
Sold
H 50.5 in D 19 in
Emile Guillemin Bronze Sculpture Torchiere Lamp "Femme Indienne" Barbedienne
By Ferdinand Barbedienne
Located in Queens, NY
Emile Coriolan Hippolyte Guillemin (French, 1841-1907) bronze torchiere “femme indienne.” Cast by F. Barbedienne Fondeur, signed “Ele. Guillemin, 1872” w/ A. Collas reduction seal. ...
Bronze