F. Barbedienne Antique Bronze Sculpture of Pan and Cubs by Emmanuel Frémiet

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.

Emmanuel Frémiet was born in Paris, France in 1824 and was brought into an upper middle-class family that had very close ties to the world of art. His family was filled with great artists and this included his Cousin Sophie who married a famous sculptor called Francois Rude. Emmanuel’s mother was also an accomplished artist who constantly encouraged him and brought him up into the world of art. At the age of five, he was already was receiving formal training in art in a private school. The start at a young age meant he was able to be accepted at the spectacular Ecole des Arts Decoratifs School at the age of sixteen. Throughout this period he learned everything he needed to then become employed by Werner as his head lithographer within a year, whose duties were to prepare drawings of both animals and men. After a long period of convincing by Sophie and Emmanuel, Francois Rude took Emmanuel as a pupil in his studio to further his learning in modeling and sculpture work. Throughout his young life, he spent a lot of time in zoological gardens and participated in dissections of any animals which had passed away during this time. By the age of seven, he had been exposed to a wide range of different wild animals. To further Emmanuel’s path in art, he was appointed the successor of Antoine Louis Barye as Professor of Drawing after Antoine’s death in 1875. With this new position and like many other great sculptors, he spent a lot of time studying and drawing at the morgue and even went to various embalmers across Paris. This was all of his training to give him the exact measurements and to be able to reproduce the muscle and bone structure of the many men and animals that he witnessed. His first sculpture was exhibited in the Paris Salon in 1843 when he was nineteen and he continued to exhibit his magnificent sculptures for the rest of his life at the Salon. He was even awarded various medals and awards from many of his pieces. As he began with the bronze sculptures, he made many small animal bronzes with very fine detail which are nowadays highly sought after by collectors and museums alike. There were many sculptors during this time that crafted pieces in which showed a cruel nature, but Emmanuel was known for the soft and gentle pieces of work which often were amusing. At the age of twenty-five, he was to receive more commissions than any other sculptor before or during his time. It became near impossible to be able to walk the streets without seeing one of Emmanuel’s many smaller bronze sculptures. This amazing sculptor continued crafting works, but also proceeded to train new sculptors, taking on near twenty pupils each time. Unfortunately, this great sculptor passed away in 1910.