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.
Antique French Neo-Grec Marble and Gilt Bronze Centre Table by Barbedienne
By Ferdinand Barbedienne
Located in London, GB
Antique French Neo-Grec marble and gilt bronze centre table by Barbedienne French, Late 19th Century Height 83cm, width 126cm, depth 72cm This superb 19th-century centre table is ...
Marble, Ormolu
A French round marble top, ebonized and gilt table, C. 1940.
Located in Philadelphia, PA
This elegant, ebonized table, with its gently curving legs and gilt details will be a wonderful addition to more formal interiors. The marble top is encircled by a bronze banded edge...
Marble, Bronze
French Gilt Bronze and Marble Gueridon Table
Located in Water Mill, NY
Antique French gilt bronze and marble Gueridon center/side table with eagle heads and feet H 29 x D 29". Gilding in very good condition.
Marble, Bronze
Wrought Iron and Marble Centre Table, France circa 1920s
Located in Isle Sur La Sorgue, Vaucluse
Elegant almost-square wrought-iron centre table. The wrought-iron base has a green finish, and is hammered and stamped around the apron, with a decor of flowers and scrolls. The e...
19th Century French Marble Centre Table
Located in Gloucestershire, GB
19th Century French marble centre table. With an ornately carved central column with vertical fluting and decorative ring mouldings. The base is a tri-footed design, also in marble....
Marble
Antique French Boulle Centre Table
Located in Suffolk, GB
Antique French Boulle Centre Table having a fabulous serpentine shaped top featuring all over tortoise shell and profuse inlaid brass decora...
Ormolu
$7,860
H 29.34 in W 45.08 in D 45.08 in
Antique Marble Topped Neo-Classical Dolphin Centre Table 20th Century
Located in London, GB
This is a beautiful Neo-classical revival Marble, giltwood, and gilt composition center table, dating from the early 20th Century. The marble specimen top is circular and inlaid wit...
Marble
Antique American Carrara Marble Centre Table
Located in Calgary, Alberta
A mid 19th century American Rococo Revival center table. The table retains its original white marble top softly patinated with age. The walnut base is richly carved with scrolling le...
Carrara Marble
$4,094
H 30.71 in W 38.59 in D 38.59 in
Outstanding Quality Antique French Victorian Marble Top Centre Table
Located in Suffolk, GB
Outstanding quality antique French Victorian marble top centre table having an outstanding quality circular coloured marble top with a moulded edge above a mahogany circular frieze s...
Marble, Other
19th Century French Kingwood and Marble Top Centre Table
Located in Martlesham, GB
19th century French Kingwood and marble top centre table, having a rouge veined marble top encased within a brass border, the inlaid frieze below having a single drawer at the front ...
Kingwood
Ormolu Marble Top French Oval Centre Table
Located in London, GB
A superb centre table in the Louis XVI manner. Of free standing elliptical form, the mahogany frame richly decorated with finely cast and chased ormolu, and having a thumbnail mol...
Griotte Marble, Ormolu
Neo-Greek Gueridon Attributed to F. Barbedienne, France, Circa 1880
By Louis-Constant Sevin, Ferdinand Barbedienne
Located in PARIS, FR
A similar model was exposed at the 1889 Paris Universal Exhibition ( see picture attached) Patinated and gilded bronze gueridon with four paw feet joined by X-shaped stems, attributed to Sévin and Barbedienne. Round green marble top mounted with a bronze rim adorned with oves and pearls motif. Born in 1821 and dead in Paris in 1888, Louis-Constant Sévin was apprenticed to the parisian sculptor Marneuf. In 1839, he joined the sculptor-modelors Phénix and Joyau, as designer, and designed silver-smith’s objects for famous firms like Denière, Froment-Meurice, Morel and Duponchel. During the Revolution in 1848, C. Sévin joined Morel in London, as workshop manager and designed pieces that Morel exhibited in 1851. Back in France in 1851, C. Sévin went to Limoges and designed models for the porcelain factories of Jouhanneaud and Dubois of which many pieces were exhibited at the Universal Exhibition in 1855. From this date on, he worked for Ferdinand Barbedienne as sculptor-ornemanist until the end of his life. Sévin’s works are considerable, he designed furniture bronzes for the « hôtel de La Païva ». At the London Exhibition in 1862, he was awarded a medal « pour l’excellence artistique des meubles qu’il a dessinés et qui sont exposés par Barbedienne » : for the artistic excellence of the furniture he designed and which is exhibited by F. Barbedienne. He won a second class medal at the Union centrale des Arts décoratifs Exhibition in 1863 and was awarded a gold medal as « cooperator ». F. Barbedienne said that posterity would remember Sévin’s compositions. The most extraordinary object designed by C. Sévin for F. Barbedienne, was a Renaissance style gilded bronze monumental clock...
Marble, Bronze
Napoleon 111 Empire Style Mahogany and Gilt Bronze Centre Table
Located in Montreal, QC
This imposing table is based on the celebrated example made for Marshal Murat, subsequently used by Napoleon and now in the Grand Trianon at Versailles. Supported by four draped caryatids, the striking Nero Antico marble above and heavy H frame cross...
Marble