Pair of Barbedienne candlesticks

H: 22cm diameter: 12cm
 In gilded bronze and cloisonné enamel, signed on the base;
 Ferdinand Barbedienne (1810-1882) was a French industrialist and great bronze maker of his time.
 He created and directed one of the most important art foundries of the 19th century, he became the official supplier to Emperor Napoleon III and Empress Eugenie.

 Born in Normandy in 1810, Barbedienne quickly settled in Paris and ran a wallpaper store. He met Achille Collas and both of them opened a foundry in 1838. Collas had already invented a machine that mathematically reproduced sculptures.

 Collas and Barbedienne sell plaster cuts of the Venus de Milo all over the world. She then devoted herself to bronze after the antique. Barbedienne's idea is to democratize art to make it accessible, while being consistent in the reproduction of the work. This invention allowed him to stand out and to be at the head of a good reputation with the renowned sculptors of the moment, such as Antonin Mercié, Paul Dubois, Clésinger, Carrier-Belleuse ...

 He also dabbled in decorative objects and furniture. In 1862, he did not go unnoticed at the Universal Exhibition in London, with his works of art inlaid with enamels (first tests recorded in 1858). During the Universal Exhibition of 1878, he was compared to "a prince of industry and the bronze king".