Barbedienne, Bronze And Cloisonné Champlevé Enamel Box

A very fine box made in bronze and champlevé (cloisonné) enamel
signed «F. Barbedienne»

France
circa 1880
height 15,5 cm
width 19 x 19 cm

Exquisite and rare box made in gilded bronze, with a “Persian” style enameled decor made with Champlevé technique using stylized polychrome foliage on a yellow background.
Standing on four stylized lioness heads, with foliate bodies and terminating in claws.

Condition : excellent with original gilding !
To note : A few tiny chips on the enamel of the cover; slight lack of gilding on one of the legs; the inside of the cup shows an old trace of stabilized oxidation. The price takes these small imperfections into account.


Champlevé is an enamelling technique in which troughs or cells are carved or cast into the bronze surface and filled with enamel. The piece is then fired until the enamel melts, and when cooled the surface of the object is polished. This technique derived from the Cloisonné enamelling technique produces a finer effect.

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».