Ferdinand Barbedienne

Pair of Neo-Greek Floor Lamps, by F. Barbedienne, France, Circa 1860 France Circa 1880 Signed F. Barbedienne Height without/with lampshade: 168/185 cm; Base: 43 x 43 cm Beautiful pair of neo-Greek floor lamps in double patina bronze, composed of cylindrical lamps, decorated on the body with a rotating frieze depicting women dressed in antique style weaving and spinning, topped by cutaway shades in red pleated silk with gilded braid. They stand on sellets from which fine chains hang, attached to a slender shaft decorated with stylized leaves and flowers and resting on a tripod base adorned with large palmettes and ending in lion's paws. The stylistic repertoire used here, notably palmettes and women dressed in antique style, evokes Greek antiquity, as does the reuse of furniture forms and objects such as tripods and antique vases. The rediscovery in the 18th century of the archaeological remains of Pompeii and Herculaneum enabled artists of all disciplines to draw inspiration from Antiquity while reinterpreting it. The craze continued unabated and, in the 19th century, many celebrities furnished their interiors with neo-Greek furniture, as in the case of the Pompeian House built in 1856 by architect Alfred Normand (1822-1909) for Prince Napoleon, or the Empress Eugenie, who bought seats inspired by antique tripods from Maison Barbedienne. Model of a sellette presented by Maison Barbedienne at the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1855. On this occasion, Empress Eugenie bought it for her bathroom at the Château de Saint-Cloud. The Empress was so taken with the model that she ordered two more pairs in 1858 for her boudoirs in the palaces of Compiègne and Fontainebleau. Photo showing a floor lamp similar to ours in Empress Eugenie's bedroom at the Château de Compiègne (Oise), in Architecture intérieure et Décoration en France des origines à 1875, Jean Feray, Editions Berger-Levrault, 1988, p. 355. Biography: Born in 1810, died in Paris in 1892, Ferdinand Barbedienne created and managed one of the most important art foundries of the 19th century. In addition to his own production, he worked for such renowned sculptors as Barrias, Clésinger and Carrier-Belleuse. Already recognized with two Council medals at the 1851 London World's Fair, Barbedienne won a Grand Medal of Honor and eleven Cooperators' Medals at the 1855 Paris World's Fair, in particular for its chisellers such as Désiré Attarge (c.1820-1878). He won the Prix Crozatier in 1862, a prize for the best chaser in France, and was awarded it again in 1864. D. Attarge was again awarded a silver medal at the 1867 Universal Exhibition, as a collaborator of F. Barbedienne. The jury's praise was explicit: "It is impossible to show more taste in the composition and more mastery in the execution of these elegant leaves and flowers, embossed on the piece with great relief and chiselled with extreme delicacy". Barbedienne's success at the International Exhibitions earned him numerous official commissions, such as that of supplying the furnishing bronzes for Prince Jérôme Napoléon's Pompeian House on Avenue Montaigne in Paris, around 1860. F. Barbedienne's entire production was always highly acclaimed, and he was constantly honored by contemporary critics, who compared him to "a prince of industry and the king of bronze" at the 1878 Exposition Universelle. Indeed, the Exposition catalog did not hesitate to regard Barbedienne as the emblematic figure of nineteenth-century bronzeworkers. His fame continued to spread over the years, and at the 1889 Exposition Universelle, critics thanked Barbedienne for serving as a master to other bronzemakers, through the consistently exemplary quality of his bronzes.