Flambeaux à l'Antique By Ferdinand Barbedienne

Pair of gilt bronze candlesticks finely chiseled, decorated with busts of woman in the antique style with the Greek. The barrel is shaped like a column decorated with pearls, the round base carved with foliage and pine cones. Signed on the back F.Barbedienne. Period Napoleon III. Height 23 cm. Condition of use, gilding wear. Ferdinand Barbedienne: Son of a modest Norman farmer, he made a first fortune in the wallpapers in a case installed at 24 and 26 rue Notre-Dame-des-Victoires in Paris, before joining in 1838 with the mechanic Achille Collas (1795-1859), who had just invented a process for the reduction of bronze art objects. In 1839, Barbedienne founded the house where he reproduced in bronze and in reduction a large number of sculpted works preserved in European museums to be able to adorn modern interiors. His idea is to democratize art, making financially accessible faithful reproductions of masterpieces. The themes chosen are often allegorical, and draw heavily from the ancient repertoire. He also publishes works by contemporary sculptors such as Carrier-Belleuse, Barye, Fremiet, Gardet, Mene, Chapu, Fabio Stecchi and Eugène Aizelin, and creates numerous models of bronze, enamel, cloisonné, wooden bas-reliefs, etc. Having no children, it is his nephew and successor, Gustave Leblanc-Barbedienne, who develops the foundry by specializing in monumental bronzes. In 1893, a presidential decree passed by Sadi Carnot authorizes Gustave Leblanc to be called Gustave Leblanc-Barbedienne. The workshops were in the rue de Lancry in the 10th arrondissement of Paris. In France, many monuments to the dead are signed Leblanc-Barbedienne. The quality of the cast iron, chasing and patina, peculiar to the technique of Barbedienne have made that gradually, the signature of the founder has gained in importance. Notably thanks to Ferdinand Barbedienne, the relationship between sculptor and founder has become analogous to the relationship between the composer and the performer for music. necessary] He was buried on 25 March 1892 in the Père-Lachaise cemetery.