Barbedienne, Oriental Style Gilded Bronze Box

A very fine Oriental style gilded bronze box
by Ferdinand Barbedienne.

France
circa 1880
height 8 cm
diameter 10,3 cm

A very fine Oriental style box, made in gilded bronze, decorated with entrelacs, stylized flowers and foliage.Preserved with its original gilding.

Biography
Born in 1810, Ferdinand Barbedienne started at n°30 boulevard Poissonnière in Paris one of the most famous 19^th century artistic bronze casting companies. He died in 1892. In addition to his personal production, he worked for famous artists such as Auguste Clésinger (1814-1883), Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse (1824-1887) and Louis Barrias (1841-1905 At the London Universal Exhibition of 1862 Barbedienne exhibited some «cloisonné» enamel works, which were for most of them designed by Constant Sévin, and won medals in three different categories : Furniture, Silversmith work and Artistic bronzes, combining for some pieces with enamels (Oriental style cup, Château de Compiègne, Inv. C 71-122). Barbedienne’s production was always highly esteemed and he was, himself admired by contemporary art critics who compared him during the 1878 Universal Exhibition to a «prince of industry and the king of bronze-casting».