Hand Candle Holder Signed Ferdinand Barbedienne

Patinated bronze hand candlestick, in the shape of an oil lamp, signed F.Barbedienne decorated with character heads and eagle's head grip. Lamp model inspired by Antiquity, very popular under the reign of Napoleon III

Period: 1870
Origin: France, Paris
Lenght : 5.51 in

Ferdinand Barbedienne was a French industrialist. It is primarily known for its art reproduction bronze foundry. He arrived in Paris at the age of thirteen. He was placed as an apprentice with a saddler then worked in various wallpaper stores before establishing his own business, rue Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, in 1833 where he made his first fortune before entering into partnership in 1838 with Achille COLLAS, who had just invented a process for reproducing art objects in bronze and on a smaller scale. In 1839 BARBEDIENNE founded the house where he had most of the statues in European museums reproduced in bronze, sufficiently small to be able to adorn modern interiors. His idea was to democratize art, by making faithful reproductions of masterpieces accessible. The themes chosen are often allegorical, and draw largely from the ancient repertoire, of which the Venus de Milo was one of the first examples. The first publishing contract was signed with RUDE on March 22, 1843. After 1848 the firm increasingly developed its activities by working with renowned sculptors and in the manufacture of objects, furniture, chandeliers, fireplace fittings, etc... Its head office is now established at 30 boulevard Poissonnière and its workshops at 63 rue de Lancry.