Ferdinand Barbedienne

Ferdinand Barbedienne (1810–1892) was a French manufacturer renowned as a bronze founder. In 1838 he partnered with the engineer Achille Collas, inventor of a mechanical process for reducing sculptures in scale, and together they founded a firm producing bronze reductions of antique and contemporary statuary. The firm reproduced the work of living sculptors such as Barye and Carrier-Belleuse under publishing contracts. After his death the foundry was continued by his nephew Gustave Leblanc-Barbedienne.