This impressive athénienne is a key reminder of the longevity of a particular model and design’s success from Antiquity through to the 19^th century and up until this day. Typically known as the ‘Trépied du Temple d’Isis’, this athénienne is designed after the Roman antique originally found at Pompeii and now at the Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples (fig.1). From being for example an inspiration for the baptismal font of Napoléon’s son in 1811, this model was the inspiration to many highly skilled makers throughout the 19^th century such as the Manfredini brothers from Milan and of course the Parisian well-established bronze founder Ferdinand Barbedienne who executed the present example.

The model: Trépied du Temple d’Isis

The Temple of Isis was a Roman temple dedicated to the Egyptian goddess Isis and was among one of the first discoveries during the excavation of Pompeii in 1764. Certainly considered as one of the most elegant examples of antique tripods, the existence of this model was then popularized to the rest of Europe via prints, one of the first being by Giovanni Battista Piranesi in 1779. This type of tripod was also popularised by an engraving in C. Percier and P. Fontaine’s, Receuil de Décorations Intérieures of 1801. Interestingly, there is also a watercolour now in the Musée Carnavalet, Paris (inv.no. D.6002), showing this type of tripod displayed at the 1801 Exposition des Produits de L’Industrie in the Louvre.

The passion for Greek and Roman Art in the 19^th century

The discovery of Pompeii and Herculaneum around the middle of the 18^th century gave rise to a new passion for Antiquity and the excavated masterpieces renewed the repertoire of fine and decorative arts and served as models for Neoclassicism. Members of the aristocracy as well as connoisseurs, particularly in England, completed their education by undertaking a ‘Grand Tour’ of Italy and often fell victim to the recently unearthed Greek and Roman artifacts like the tripod from the Temple of Isis.

Throughout the history of Western Art, successive styles have always alternated between periods of attraction to Antiquity (Renaissance, Classicism, Neoclassicism, Empire, Art Deco) and rejection and challenge of Antiquity (Mannerism, Baroque, Rococo, Art Nouveau). These cyclical returns of Antiquity are clear and with them came the envy of people at different t.mes s and in places so far apart to decorate their interiors with testimonies of a past so remote. Because of the lack of available Antique artifacts, amateurs appreciated reproductions of the celebrated masterpieces of Antiquity, which had become the standard for ideal and unsurpassed beauty. The 19^th century from the Manfredini brothers in the early 19^th century to Ferdinand Barbedienne in the late 19^th century saw the success of this model endure. Related examples in comparison to the present have been recorded in public and private collects ions, thus testifying to the ongoing fascination of collects ors to engage with this model:

-a tripod signed by Ferdinand Barbedienne in gilt and patinated bronze, on a rouge de France marble base and as the present example a further bronze thin base underneath the marble, sold at Replica Shoes ’s, New York, 6 June 2014, lot 140.

-the aforementioned baptismal font of the Roi de Rome, offered to Empress Marie-Louise by the citizens of Milan in 1913, and which was executed by the workshop of Luigi and Francesco Manfredini, now in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna (inv.no WS XIV 152).

-a third example, almost a pair to the Vienna athénienne, believed to have been ordered by Eugène de Beauharnais, in 1813, as a present to a member of the Imperial family, subsequently sold Christie’s London, The Exceptional sale, 7 July 2011, lot 7), also illustrated in E. Colle, A. Griseri, R. Valeriani, Bronzi Decorativi in Italia, Milan, 2001, pp. 290-291.

-an athénienne in gilt-bronze, bronze and porphyry from the Milanese workshops of Luigi and Francesco Manfredini, offered Replica Shoes ’s, London, Treasures, 3 July 2013, lot 46.

-a fifth example was formerly in the collects ion of Prince Essling, then in the collects ion of Marshall Massina, now in the Musée Massena, Nice, illustrated by Groer, Decorative Arts in Europe 1790 à 1850, Fribourg, 1985, p. 14, fig.2.

-it is worthwhile considering a sixth athénienne in the State Bedchamber at Pavlovsk Palace, St. Petersburg, with a lapis lazuli frieze and base surmounted by a marble top (ill. Ed. A. Koutchoumov, Pavlovsk, Le Palais et le Parc, St. Petersburg, Leningrad, 1976, pp. 78-79.)

-a further athénienne in gilt-bronze and verde antico marble which sold from the collects ion of Léonce Rosenberg, Hotel Drouot, Paris, 3-4 May 1932, was with Galerie Kugel (Antiquomania, A. Kugel, Paris, 2010, cat. 7, p.82).

- a related tripod table by Luigi Righetti, circa 1815, in the Reggia di Capodimonte, Naples (ill. Alvar González-Palacios, Il Tempio del Gusto Roma e il Regno delle due Sicilie, Vol. II, Milan, 1986, figs. 276 and 277).

Ferdinand Barbedienne (1810-1892)

Having established one of France's most important foundries in 1839, Ferdinand Barbedienne (fig.2) excelled at the masterly art of reproducing both French and Italian Renaissance sculpture. Working for many years in collaboration with the inventor Achille Collas, Barbedienne produced bronze reductions of sculptures from the Antique using a pioneering technique which allowed him to reduce works of art to any size using a simple mathematical calculation. However, the diversity of his production was even more substantial, as his entry to the 1867 Paris Exhibition clearly testifies: "BARBEDIENNE F. 30 Boulevard Poissonnière, Paris - Artistic bronzes; mantelpiece sets; chandeliers; statues; groups; artistic furniture; articles in sculptured wood and marble; articles in chased silver and repoussé gold; cloisonné enamels." Judging from a lithograph (fig.3) by Charles Kreutzberger who was known to have illustrated several objects from the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1878, it seems Barbedienne had himself exhibited an athénienne, possibly the one sold at Replica Shoes ’s in June 2004.

The high regard to which Barbedienne was undeniably held was formally recognized in 1850 when he was commissioned to furnish the Paris Town Hall. He received the médaille d'honneur for his efforts, presented to him at the Paris World Exhibition in 1855. A decade after this award, he was made the President of the Reunion of Bronze Makers, a post he held until 1885 and a test.mes nt to the lifelong dedication he contributed to his craft.