Ferdinand Barbedienne, Diana the goddess of the hunt - according to a Roman copy from the Louvre Museum, 19th century.

• bronze
• 40 x 17 x 13 cm
• Signed: F. BARBEDIENE, Fondeurs. Paris

French metalworker, bronzer and innovative entrepreneur from Normandy.

In 1838 he formed a partnership with Achille Collas (1795-1859), who invented a machine to create miniature replicas of monumental sculptures. Together they developed a business selling miniatures of ancient sculptures from museums across Europe. They made art accessible and widely known. Beginning in 1843, they also began creating miniature replicas of works by their contemporaries and offered enameled, small cabinet objects. Due to the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, the company had to briefly retrain to produce cannons, but resumed its previous activities after the war ended. Barbedienne died in 1892. His nephew took over the factory and ran it until 1952.