Bronze Figurative Sculptures

Sculpture of Cleopatra reclining, bronze sculpture signed Barbedienne, Napoleon III period. Sculpture in patinated bronze, signed by Barbedienne foundryman, representing Cleopatra r...

Grand Tour circa 1860s bronze of the Wrestlers. Rich fine dark brown patina. Marked "F. Barbedienne Fondeur." The Wrestlers also known as The Two Wrestlers, The Uffizi Wrestlers or The Pancrastinae...

"Diane de Gabies" French sculpture, late 19th century. Patinated bronze with "Ferdinand Barbedienne" foundry marks. Height: 51 cm. Very good condition.

A Patinated Bronze Figural Group of ‘Gloria Victis’ (‘Glory to the Vanquished’), Cast by Ferdinand Barbedienne from the Model by Marius-Jean-Antonin Mercié (French, 1845-1916). ‘Gloria Victis’ (‘Glory to the Vanquished’). Bronze, gilt and dark brown patina. Signed 'A. Mercié', with foundry inscription 'F. BARBEDIENNE, Fondeur. Paris.' and A. Collas reduction cachet. The integral base titled 'GLORIA VICTIS'. This cast is part of a limited edition by the Barbedienne Foundry. France. Circa 1880. ‘Gloria Victis’ is one of the most recognisable and important works of sculpture of the nineteenth century and a definitive image of France’s historic national identity. The figure of glory, winged and wearing armour, carries a dying young warrior heavenwards towards fame and immortality. The compositional daring of the group must be admired for balancing two figures on the minimal support of one foot, wings spread in the moment before taking flight. Mercié was a student at the French Academy of Rome when the Prussians invaded France in 1870. Shortly after the war had begun, he executed a group depicting the figure of Fame supporting a victorious soldier. When news reached Mercié in Rome that the French had surrendered, he decided to alter his group, replacing the victorious soldier with a defeated casualty, thus transforming an allegory of ‘Glory to the Victors’ into one of ‘Glory to the Vanquished’. Completed in 1872, a year after the defeat of French soldiers against the Prussian army, the statue personifies a defeated but heroic France. The title is also a reversal of the famous formula, ‘Vae Victis’ (Death to the Vanquished), which the Gallic general Brennus exclaimed upon defeating the Romans in 390 BC. The figure of the fallen soldier was thought to represent Henri Regnault, a fellow sculptor of Mercié who was killed on the last day of fighting. Measuring 317 cm. high the original group of ‘Gloria Victis’ was unveiled in plaster at the Salon of 1872. It was bought by the City of Paris for the sum of twelve thousand francs and then cast in bronze by Victor Thiébaut for eight thousand five hundred francs. The bronze was exhibited at the Salon in 1875 and first placed in Montholon Square in the 8th arrondissement. In 1884 it was transferred to the courtyard of the Hôtel de Ville and in 1930, it entered the collection of the Musée du Petit Palais, where it can be seen to this day. The Thiébaut Frères foundry also cast Gloria Victis bronzes for the cities of Niort (requested 1881) Bordeaux (requested 1883), Châlons-sur-Marne (today, Châlons-en-Champagne; requested 1890), and Cholet (requested 1901). In 1905, the Danish brewer and art collector Carl Jacobsen was permitted to have an exact cast made of the original sculpture in Paris, on condition that the base was made 2 cm lower and bore the inscription “Original tilhører Paris By” (The original belongs to the City of Paris). It too was cast by the Thiébaut Frères foundry. Gloria Victis was one of Jacobsen’s most important and his last acquisition. Today it has been returned to its original position in the Winter Garden at Glyptoteket, Copenhagen, Denmark. The full-size plaster was shown again at the Paris Expositon universelle of 1878 alongside a bronze reduction by Barbedienne. By this time Antonin Mercié had entered into a commercial edition contract with the Ferdinand Babedienne foundry to produce bronze reductions of Gloria Victis, his most famous work. Gloria Victis is first recorded to have been produced in three sizes and by 1886 Barbedienne’s ‘Catalogue des Bronzes D’Art’ lists six sizes measuring 3/5, 9/20, 7/20, 3/10, 6/25 and 2/10, of the original. These reductions were produced by an invention of Barbedienne’s business partner Achille Collas. The Collas reducing machine was a type of complex mechanical pantograph lathe that enabled sculpture to be mathematically measured and transcribed to scale, in the round, thus making a reduced size plaster from which a bronze could be cast. Mercié's modern sculpture had become an instant classic, even receiving an entry in the Nouveau Larousse Illustré. The success of the group undoubtedly lay in the fact that it was admired not just on an aesthetic level, but also on a patriotic level, particularly in its commemoration of heroism in defeat. Immediately ‘Gloria Victis’ was recognised as a national artwork, capable of arousing patriotism and casts were ordered from Barbedienne as local memorials commemorating the war’s dead for cities across France. ‘Gloria Victis’ was considered so much a part of France’s national identity that for the 1900 Paris Exhibition, Ferdinand Barbedienne’s nephew Gustave Leblanc, loaned a bronze example to feature as part of l’Exposition centennale de l’art français. Literature: For an interesting account of the process of creating a reduction in bronze of the Gloria Victis by Barbedienne and illustrations of the casting and finishing of the bronze see: 'Ferdinand Barbedienne': Theodore Child; Harper's new monthly magazine, Volume 73, Issue 436, September 1886. ‘Contemporary French Sculptors’: The Century, Volume 33, Issue 3, Jan 1887. ‘Modern French Sculpture’: Harper's new monthly magazine, Volume 76, Issue 452, January 1888. S, Lami, ‘Dictionnaire des sculpteurs de l'Ecole française au dix-neuvième siècle’, Tome III. G.-M., Paris, 1914, p. 432. Peter Fusco and H.W. Janson, The Romantics to Rodin: French Nineteenth Century Sculpture from North...

A Verona red marble remarkable inkwell, pure Empire style representing a gilded bronze of the bust of Antinous as Dioniso. Empire style, Generous size, excellent state of preservatio...

Large French patinated bronze sculpture of David by Mercié and Barbedienne French, circa 1878 Measures: Height 77cm, width 36cm, depth 27cm...

A Large and Exceptional Late 19th Century Patinated Bronze Figural Group Entitled “Quand Meme” by Mercié and Barbedienne on Pedestal Marius-Jean-Antonin Me...

A classical and most elegant French 19th century patinated bronze statue of kneeling Venus, signed F. Barbedienne Fondeur and stamped "Reduction Mecaniq...

A most impressive and high quality French 19th century patinated bronze statue of Laocoön and his sons, signed Barbedienne. The bronze is raised b...

An exceptional French 19th century patinated bronze statue signed P. Dubois and F. Barbedienne. The statue entitled Le Courage Militaire, is raise...

A French silvered-bronze athénienne by Ferdinand Barbedienne, Paris, last quarter 19th century with a revolving liner, the frieze applied with bucrania suspending ribbon-tied berried laurel swags above a border of bellflowers on a stippled ground above three seated female sphinxes issuing stylised foliage and scrolls on lion monopodia cast with the mask of Hercules, scrolling foliage and anthemions joined by stretchers, raised on a concave-sided triform marble base on a further thin silvered-bronze base, inscribed to the tripod base 'F. BARBEDIENNE' Measures: 103.3cm. high, 41.5cm. diameter; 3ft. 4 3/8 in, 1ft. 4 1/4. This impressive athénienne is a key reminder of the longevity of a particular model and design’s success from Antiquity through to the 19th century and up until this day. Typically known as the ‘Trépied du Temple d’Isis’, this athénienne is designed after the Roman antique originally found at Pompeii and now at the Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples (fig.1). From being for example an inspiration for the baptismal font of Napoléon’s son in 1811, this model was the inspiration to many highly skilled makers throughout the 19thcentury such as the Manfredini brothers from Milan and of course the Parisian well-established bronze founder Ferdinand Barbedienne who executed the present example. The Temple of Isis was a Roman temple dedicated to the Egyptian goddess Isis and was among one of the first discoveries during the excavation of Pompeii in 1764. Certainly considered as one of the most elegant examples of antique tripods, the existence of this model was then popularized to the rest of Europe via prints, one of the first being by Giovanni Battista Piranesi in 1779. This type of tripod was also popularised by an engraving in C. Percier and P. Fontaine’s, Receuil de Décorations Intérieures of 1801. Interestingly, there is also a watercolour now in the Musée Carnavalet, Paris, showing this type of tripod displayed at the 1801 Exposition des Produits de L’Industrie in the Louvre. The passion for Greek and Roman Art in the 19th century. The discovery of Pompeii and Herculaneum around the middle of the 18th century gave rise to a new passion for Antiquity and the excavated masterpieces renewed the repertoire of fine and decorative arts and served as models for Neoclassicism. Members of the aristocracy as well as connoisseurs, particularly in England, completed their education by undertaking a ‘Grand Tour’ of Italy and often fell victim to the recently unearthed Greek and Roman artefacts...

A beautiful French 19th century Louis XVI st. patinated bronze and ormolu statue of the 'Allégorie de l'Histoire' by Georges Bareau and F. Barbedienne. This "Symbol of History" statu...

A handsome and high-quality Italian 19th century patinated bronze statue of Apollo, signed F. Barbedienne, Fondeur. The statue is raised by a circular base with a finely detailed tre...

A sensational and large scale French mid 19th century Louis XVI st. patinated bronze statue of Diana the Huntress, signed by Barbedienne. Diana dressed in classical attire and is rea...

A stunning museum quality French 19th century ormolu, patinated bronze, Rouge Griotte, Coquillier de Bilbao, and Sarrancolin marble statue and original pedestal named "Gloria Victus...

Ferdinand Barbedienne 1810-1892. A brown patinated bronze statuette after the antique of "Diana of Gabii" Signed F. Barbedienne. Barbedienne foundry m...

A French bronze figure of the Borghese Gladiator, mid-19th century, cast by Ferdinand Barbedienne, after the antique. Base dimensions: 34.5cm...

Antique Patinated Bronze Sculpture of Diana by Ferdinand Barbedienne French, late 19th Century Dimensions: Height 60cm, width 22cm, depth 22cm This...

A finely patinated French antique bronze by Ferdinand Barbedienne portraying a a young boy caressing a large goose. The figure is mounted on an angled and shaped base and is signed '...

Four antique bronze plaques depicting water-nymphs, by Ferdinand Barbedienne French, 19th century. Measures: Height 47cm, width 12cm, depth 2.5cm Finely cast in relief from patinated bronze with parcel gilt patina, these French 19th Century panels each depict a Classical female water-nymph. The relief structure and design is after four panels from the important marble fountain from the Renaissance period in Paris called the Fontaine des Innocents. This was created by the French sculptor Jean Goujon...

Denys-pierre Puech French, 1854-1942 La Sirene Signed ‘D.PUECH’; inscribed F. BARBEDIENNE, Fondeur Patinated Bronze circa 19th century Foundry Cast: Ferdinand Barbedienne 37 1/2 in. x 27 in. x 16 in Notes: Puech conceived the idea for ‘La Sirene’ during his stay at the Villa Medici when he fell passionately in love with the celebrated opera singer Emma Calvé, who was then performing in Rome. Peuch wrote, "it is to her that I owe the inspiration for the group." The sculpture shows a winged chimeric siren with a tail of a fish abducting a Ephebus. Puech noted the rarity of the scene of a woman abducting a man, rather than the more common depiction of a man carrying away a female victim. Peuch says, “I had the presentiment that, with the Siren's rape of the Ephebus, I could express the force of passion, which reached towards the unknown, which, itself, might be fidelity or the fall..." In Greek mythology the sirens seduced sailors with their singing only to lead them to their death in the sea. Literature: Denys Puech...

'The Soldier of Marathon' - A large patinated bronze group after a model by Jean-Pierre Cortot, Cast by Ferdinand Barbedienne. Jean-Pierre Cort...

A bronze Statuette of Arlequin by Charles-René de Paul de Saint-Marceaux Cast by Barbedienne. The mischievous Harlequin, arms crossed in contemplation, wearing a grin and a mask, tr...

A finely casted patinated bronze sculpture of a dancer Zingara after a model by Jean-Baptiste Clésinger by F. Barbedienne foundry. Modeled dancing with a tambourine, inscribed F. BAR...

Signed P. Dubois 1865 and F. Barbedienne fondeur Stamped with réduction mécanique Collas A patinated bronze « Florentine Singer » sculpture, inspir...

This ormolu clock is an exemplary work by the famous French 19th century metalworker and foundry-owner, Ferdiand Barbedienne. Working with a design made by the acclaimed onamentalist, Louis-Constant...

This large patinated bronze antique sculpture depicts the Classical figure Penelope, the wife of Odysseus (Roman name Ulysses) who appears in ...

This fine and exceptionally cast patinated bronze sculpture is the work of two masters of the decorative arts, Henri Chapu (French, 1833-1891) and Ferdinand Barbedienne (French, 1810-1892). Chapu was responsible for the design of the sculpture which is titled 'La Jeunesse' and depicts a young girl swathed in Classical style clothing reaching up to place a laurel branch on top of a wall. The original work was crafted in white marble as part of a monument to Henri Regnault...