By the mid-19th century, industrial advances in casting allowed bronze statues to be produced for the first time in quantity and quality. This new output was hungrily consumed by the emergent middle-classes who formed a powerful new group of collectors. Small bronze statues were one way in which this new class of collectors sought to bring ‘high’ art to their drawing rooms.

The Opening of the 1890 Paris Salon painted by Jean Andre Rixens (French, 1846-1924). (Public Domain / Evripidis Koutlidis Collection / National Gallery of Greece).

It was no accident that the epicentre of bronze casting was Paris, for the famous names of Barbedienne and Susse Frères and other great foundries established there, prospered in response to the rich tradition of artistic patronage led by the great art academy of the city, the national society of French artistes’ and their annual exhibition known as the Paris Salon.

Sculpture at the Salon would usually first be exhibited in hand worked clay or wax or cast plaster. Few sculptors would initially show a work in bronze given that casting in bronze was expensive. Accreditation of a submission to the Salon came from the jury in the form of a medal. Such an award would reflect the artistic merit according to artworld grandies, as well as popular sentiment. It might lead to the French state or a wealthy patron commissioning the work in bronze or marble.

Sculptors would then seek to capitalise on the success of a work by commissioning the repetition of the work as a bronze edition. Many sculptors could not finance such an edition themselves but would enter into a contract with a foundry to produce bronze statuary under licence.

The underside of this large bronze statue shows the jointing pins and the blue-green and yellow colour of unpatinated bronze.

What is bronze?

The nineteenth foundries perfected a measured mix of metals to achieve the quality of finish we have come to take for granted when handling ‘bronzes’. Barbedienne’s perfected recipe was ninety parts best red copper, seven parts zinc and three parts tin. This gives a metal alloy of a golden hue which over time oxidises to a blue colour. The dark brown colour associated with bronze sculpture is in fact a patina, a coating of acids and salts which is artfully applied with a brush, employed to accentuate the curves and detail of the statue.

Albert-Ernest Carrier Belleuse in his studio, painted by his son Louis Robert, circa 1870 (Courtesy Dahesh Museum of Art, New York).

Famous Sculptors

This endearing model of a running elephant by Barye is beautifully cast and finished by the Barbedienne foundry.

Foundries

The single most important determining factor to the boom in bronze sculpture was the invention of a machine to copy sculptures on a smaller scale. The Susse Frères foundry developed such a machine invented by Frédéric Sauvage (1786-1856) and Barbedienne one, with even greater success, by Achille Collas (18795-1859).

The reducing machine was a type of complex mechanical pantograph lathe that enabled sculpture to be mathematically measured and transcribed to scale, in the round, thus making a reduced size plaster from which a bronze could be cast. This enabled a most accurate reduction to be transcribed. It was however a completely hand worked process, and the actual casting of the statue remained a long and costly process.

The idea of a mechanical reduction has led to the misconception that nineteenth century bronze sculpture was, in some way, mass produced. In reality, the bronze casting process is most complex with many stages requiring different expertise and can take longer than a sculptor hand working in marble.

Collas’ pantograph for reducing sculpture.

Another common misconception is that the bronze casting process can give rise to limitless editions of bronzes. On the contrary, it must be remembered that when casting in bronze the mould and the core serve only once, each repetition of a bronze statue requires the making of a new mould and a new core, which for a large bronze statue is a process which alone takes many weeks.

The most successful and largest foundry belonged to Ferdinand Barbedienne who capitalised upon Collas’ invention to perfect the casting process and establish a manufactory which produced bronze statuary in quantity and to a universally high standard. To give a sense of the scale of Barbedienne’s set-up, he had no less than six rooms employing nearly two hundred men were devoted to finishing the statuary and ornamental bronzes which were sent up in the rough from the foundry. By the 1880s Barbedienne had some 450 employees which was the same as the silversmith Christofle.

Technicians in the bronze assembly room at Barbedienne’s 63 rue de Lancry manufactory, circa 1913 (Private Collection courtesy Florence Rionnet, Les Bronzes Barbedienne, Fig. 51, P. 61).

Foundry Marks & Editions

A sculptor might commission a foundry to cast a work in bronze. If it was a large piece, it might be commissioned by the state or funded by private subscriptions. Sculptors also financed small bronzes themselves which might become an edition. Rarely in the nineteenth century are such editions numbered. They might however have specific or unusual foundry marks which identify them as an artist edition.

Invariably however, with French 19th century bronzes, the foundry acted like a gallery effectively sponsoring artists in order to secure the right to reproduce their work. For example, Mercié singed a twenty-five year contract with Barbedienne for his ‘Gloria Victis’ in 1877 which, it is recorded, earnt the sculptor nearly 60,000 francs between 1898-1907. When Barbedienne met Paul Dubois, the sculptor was finding that art did not pay and was considering entering the civil service to make a living. Barbedienne asked him “Do you want me to reproduce your sculpture?”. Paul Dubois received 20% of the price for each bronze sold, and his works fast numbered amongst the most popular produced by Barbedienne, paying the sculptor some 50,000 francs a year.

Various foundry stamps as illustrated ‘Les Bronzes du XIXe Siècle’ by Pierre Kjellberg, p. 663.

Detail and Patina

The artist would enter into an agreement with a foundry which might stipulate the number of bronzes to be cast, the sizes allowed and other details of quality control. Although the sculptors often took a direct interest in the casting process, they invariably lacked any of the skills necessary to be of much technical assistance.

One area where sculptors were more active was in adding the fine work to finish the surface with detail. This is called chasing and involves scratching details into to the bronze surface. The artist would generally work on the first bronze proof, carefully working or instructing the chiselling of the bronze. The detail given by the artists hand would therefore be captured on this first bronze proof and repeated on subsequent casts.

The artist might also stipulate or favour a particular colour finish or patina. The dark-brown colour many of us associate with bronzes emulates the colour of renaissance bronzes. Sometimes, as Barye did, a greenish patina is favoured, which alludes to classical bronzes from antiquity on which the surface had tarnished to a blue-green hue. Great care was taken to achieve an attractive patina and it also develops with age, as the oils from our hands when touching bronzes, adds to the patina. For this reason handling is not necessarily a bad thing and it can add attractive rubbing to the high-points of a bronze, in turn accentuating the curves and details.

When determining the authenticity and quality of a nineteenth century bronze, you must look at the details. Given that nineteenth century sculptors exhibiting at the Salon were of the classical school, generally speaking the sculpture they produced was finely worked and autonomically correct, and in no way impressionistic. They paid great attention to details, the proportions of figures and details of fingers and toes. Any wobbly edges or squidgy details should ring alarm bells. Similarly, the quality of the bronze itself should be free from blemishes or bubbles in the metal. If you are looking for a bronze of a horse by, for example, Mêne or Bonheur, the moulded edge around the base should be straight and smooth. You must also consider the weight of the bronze as, in the 19th century, the component metals in bronze were costly, and foundries developed greatly refined casting practices to use small amounts of bronze. Therefore, when you handle it, a lighter bronze is a sign of quality.

This bronze of ‘Theseus Fighting the Centaur Bianor’ By Antoine Louis Barye has an excellent mid-brown coloured patina with attractive rubbing to the highpoints.

Copies and the 20th Century

The phenomenal attention to detail paid by the great 19th century foundries produced bronzes of exceptionally fine quality. By the middle of the 20th century the skills needed to cast so perfectly in bronze gradually disappeared, partly because the time needed to cast with such finesse became too costly and skilled workforce declined. Smaller foundries such as Hebrard subsumed the production of bronze statuettes, producing in smaller, often numbered editions, works by, for example, Rodin and Degas. Continued by Ferdinand’s nephew Gustave Leblanc-Barbedienne who cast the works of Auguste Rodin (1840-1917), Maison Barbedienne closed in 1954. Similarly, at Susse Frères, their production emphasis adapted to cast monumental works by Rodin and Henry Moore, continuing until the late 20th century. Subsequent editions of 20th century sculpture have been protected by foundations representing the artists posthumously, whereas any such agreements for 19th century sculptors have long since expired.

This means since the 1950s and especially by the 1980s, large quantities of unauthorised and crude bronzes were cast ‘surmoulage’, referring to the fraudulent practice of taking a casting directly from a sculpture rather than from the artist’s original model. A huge quantity of crude bronzes bearing the signature of Barye, Carpeaux, Barrias and their contemporaries flooded the market and are widely found online. Such fakes are the crudest replicas and bear no link to the original artists, showing none of the skill and refinement perfected by the great foundries.

Observe how straight the edge of the base is, showing the quality of the cast, and the small PEYROL EDITEUR stamp (bronze founder for Isidore Bonheur).

Condition & Price

Obviously, condition is paramount, but the originality and the colour of the patina are also important. The celebrity of the artist and the subject of the sculpture are key determinants of price, but these are subject to fashion and change with time. Always in demand are the great names of French 19th century sculpture, Antoine-Louis Barye, Jean-Léon Gérôme, Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux and Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse. Scarcity and whether a bronze is a lifetime cast also have an effect. When a large edition has been produced the biggest contributing factor is scale, whereby scaled up and larger examples, which cost more to produce, are rarer and command a premium.

Susse Frères stand at the 1900 Paris Exhibition.

Conclusion

It is a great time to invest in bronze sculpture. From sporting bronzes of horses and exotic animals to Orientalist portraiture and neoclassical figural compositions, the huge variety of styles and subjects in 19th century sculpture offers something for everyone. The large output of animalier sculptors, such as Barye and Mêne, are great for collecting. Large ornamental bronzes, by the likes of Carrier-Belleuse, make for eye-catching centrepieces, and appeal to interior decorators. When talking to today’s collectors, what invariably catches their eye is the phenomenal quality of 19th century bronzes. The casting and the detail are so good that there is always a sense of wonder at how such perfection could be wrought in metal. For these reasons alone, 19th century bronzes represent excellent value for money, as casting something even approximating such quality would be impossibly expensive, even nigh on impossible, today.

Click Here To View Our Full Selection of Fine 19th Century Sculpture

Further Reading:

H. Berman, Bronzes, Sculptors & Founders 1800-1930, Chicago, 1977.
C. Payne, Animals in Bronze: Reference and Price Guide, Antique Collectors’ Club, 1981.
P. Kjellberg, Les Bronzes du XIXe Siècle: Dictionairre des Sculptures, Les Éditions de L’Amateur, Paris. 1989.
P. Cadet, Susse Frères 150 Years of Sculpture 1837-1987, Paris. 1992.
F. Rionnet, Les Bronzes Barbedienne L’Oeuvre D’Un Dyastie De Fondeurs, Arthena, Paris. 2016.