Cast iron benche LARGE SIZE French origin - Val d'Osne foundry

Cast iron benche LARGE SIZE French origin - Val d'Osne foundry

13847

New

A cast-iron seat/bench by the Val d'Osne Foundry, French, c. 1860.
Robust and heavy bench, indestructible.
We paint it in any RAL color.

Published on Miller's Garden Antiques - Octopus Publ.Group Ltd.
Published on G. Himmelheber - CAST-IRON FURNITURE - Philip Wilson.

More details

1 950,00 €



Data sheet


Max height 31.5 in 80 cm
Length 74.8 in 190 cm
Depth 17.72 in 45 cm
Weight 551.16 lbs 250 Kg
Seat height 14.57 in 37 cm
Ancient manufacturing source Val d'Osne Foundry, Franch, c. 1860
Material Cast-iron
Historical references about 1840

More info

In the photos you can see an image of the Romanov family, an ancient image.
We see the two brothers sitting on a bench in Val d'Osne, very similar to ours, with the Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich and his brother, Tsar Alexander III.
Source: @theromanovfamily

The Val d'Osne art foundry, located in Val d'Osne, outside the municipality of Osne-le-Val (Haute-Marne), is a French art foundry.
The workshops, created in 1836 by Jean-Pierre-Victor André to make street furniture and decorative cast iron, quickly became the most important production of art cast in France, until the beginning of the 20th century. Their activity ceased in 1986.
The company has often changed its name over the course of its history: Barbezat et Cie (1855), Société anonyme des Hauts Fourneaux et Fonderies d'Art du Val d'Osne, Société anonyme des establishments Metallurgiques A. Durenne et du Val d ' Osne (or Durenne Val d'Osne, 1931), General of hydraulics and mechanics (1971).
Jean-Pierre-Victor André (1790-1851) began his career as a contractor for the city of Paris. He was also manager of foundries in Thonnance-lès-Joinville and Cousances-aux-Forges, which gave him production experience and knowledge of the ornamental cast iron market. He quickly stood out for the quality of his productions in Haute-Marne; then by the search for productivity which allows it to lower the prices of its balconies and ornamental castings. The factory, created in 18364, was immediately designed for ornamental casting.
From 1827, André and Calla were noticed for their production. It is thus written in a report of the National Industry Encouragement Society:
“Mr. André, master of foundries, rue Neuve-Ménilmontant, in Paris - Mr. André, eagerly admitted by the jury of the department of the Seine, who knows his useful works, however sent to the exhibition only 'a cross railing in primary cast iron. This piece, the price of which was 15 f., Indicated the recent progress of the factories situated in Champagne; we regret that it was not accompanied by objects of more difficult execution and other usual parts, that this cast reproduces with a marked economy, and of which the activity of the manufacture on a large scale in this province is especially due to the example that M. André gave, one of the first. See page 75. The tumular ornaments, door hammers, bas-reliefs, etc., in primary cast iron […] were taken from the factories of Mr. André; their prices, low, and their good execution made them very remarkable5. "
In 1839, his reputation was established:
“Mr. André’s establishment has long been known in the trade: its cast irons are prized for their craftsmanship and quality. M. André was the first to introduce sand casting in the department of Haute-Marne; replacing clay molding, which is much longer and more expensive. This improvement soon spread: it resulted in a great decrease in the price of cast iron. The Osne-le-Val establishment is the most important of its kind in Haute-Marne.
The jury awards Mr. André a silver medal. "
In 1849, the foundry employed 169 people.
The Universal Exhibition of 1851 in London at the Crystal Palace gave him international recognition:
“The Crystal Palace, by its grandiose proportions, and the many iron ships that already ply the sea, are clear evidence of the immense future that is still reserved for cast iron and iron. In examining now what is the share which belongs to each country in the progress which the cast iron industry has achieved up to now, we find that France, formerly still inferior to Germany and England in this manufacture, eventually surpassed them and today occupies the forefront in the art of melting iron. "
At the London Exhibition, the jury awarded four major council medals to the die-cast industry. In this number there were two for France, one for Germany and one for England.
"This is because our fonts surpassed all others in the purity of the forms, the elegance and the sharpness of the designs and the finish of the surfaces right out of the mold.
Mr. André of Val-d´Osne, one of the winners for the big medal, had exhibited a fountain of admirable construction and molding. His alligator, his fireplace, his bedstead, presented such a perfect casting that it was hard to believe that these objects had not received the slightest touch-up, but were found as they had been taken out of the mold. . Its bedstead especially aroused the admiration of connoisseurs by the bas-reliefs which adorned it and whose elegance and beautiful appearance gave the most honorable testimony to the talent of the artist and the skill and knowledge of the moulder. and the founder. "
In 1855, Gustave Barbezat bought the foundry, which then became Barbezat et Cie, and the following year built a second blast furnace3. The company is growing. In 1860, it was fitted with five Wilkinson3 machines.
Present at the Universal Exhibition of 1900, the Val d'Osne art foundry designed the same year, in very different styles, the four large gilded bronze sets of the Alexandre-III bridge and the Art Nouveau surrounds designed by Hector Guimard for the Paris metro.
After World War I
Ornamental casting is no longer in fashion: the Val d'Osne art foundry has a last major activity with the production of war memorials, and a special catalog is published in 1921. But then, the foundry will evolve more and more towards industrial production, even if it continues to offer statues and fountains. After successive changes - in particular the purchase by its competitor, Établissements Durenne in 1931, but which will keep the prestigious name -, it will disappear by merging within the Société Générale de Fonderie, then in 1971 of the Générale d'Hydraulique and mechanics (GHM). It ceased its activity in July 19863.
Currently, the publication of products from the Val d'Osne catalog such as Wallace fountains is continuing, as well as Guimard entourages for the RATP (metro entrances), candelabras, street furniture.
Source Wikipedia France


 

21 other products in the same category: