Antoine Louis Barye, Bronze Model of 'Elephant De Senegal'

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.

The son of a goldsmith, Parisian born Antoine-Louis Barye was a sculptor of animal subjects and acclaimed, not only for his apparent skill but as the founder of what became known as the French Animaliers School. Among his patrons were representatives of the state government and royalty, including the Duke of Orleans and the Dukes of Luynes, Montpensier and Nemours.

Well compensated financially, Barye was able to buy the best of materials and hire the country's most skilled foundry craftsmen. The foundry he hired was owned by Ferdinand Barbedienne and casts from this period were stamped with the letters, FB. However, he did not make a lot of money from his work because he was such a perfectionist that often he would not sell his work because he thought it was not "quite right." In 1848, he declared bankruptcy and his molds and plaster casts were sold along with the copyrights.

Barye's specialty was aroused, angry-seeming wild game such as lions and tigers and elephants, but he also did equestrian groups and mythology figures. In order to do realistic depictions of animal anatomy, he spent much time at the Jardin des Plantes in Paris. His early training was as an apprentice to a metal engraver, but being drafted in the army in 1812 ended that education. In 1832, he had established his studio, and unique at that time was his method of cold stamping his bronze casts so that each one had a special number. He had his first entry, The Milo of Croton, in the Paris Salon in 1819, winning a second prize. In 1831, a work regarded as a masterpiece, Tiger Devouring a Gavial, was in the Salon and purchased for the Luxembourg Gardens, which is now in the Louvre. However, many of his subsequent Salon submissions were rejected and so angered him that between 1836 and 1851, he refused to submit entries. In 1851, he again exhibited at the Salon with Jaguar Devouring A Hare, and this work, like the 1831 entry, was placed in the Luxembourg Gardens and eventually in the Louvre.

In spite of problems with the Salon, Barye received many accolades for his work, and the period of 1837–48 was considered the most productive time of his career. However, in 1848, when he lost control of his work and it was reproduced by others including Martin and Barbedienne, the sculptures, according to some art professionals, are not as skillfully executed. In 1848, after his bankruptcy, Barye became director of Casts and Models in the Louvre, until 1850, when he was replaced by Emmanuel Fremiet. It was a very difficult time for him. However, within a few years, he began receiving accolades for the quality and uniqueness of his work, and people began appreciating the powerful images of his sculpture, especially the wildlife in their natural surroundings. In 1854, he was appointed Master of Zoological Drawing in the Musée National d'Histoire Naturelle and held this position until his death in 1875.