BRONZE BY VALSUANI

An additional bronze edition of the busts was realised between 1953 and 1965 (known as 2nd additional series after the Barbedienne bronzes). They were marked on the outside: LG (for Madame Le Garrec), Mme H. (for Madame Heuyer) and C (for Madame Cordier), the wife and daughters of Maurice Le Garrec. The bronzes were stamped in the lower back with the cachet "Cire perdue, C. Valsuani". The M.L.G. mark (for Maurice Le Garrec) can be seen at the same location. It had been added into the soft wax surface. Some of the stamps that are used to identify the Valsuani edition of the busts reverting to Mme H. for example will show an incised monogram of her name. It had not been added onto the wax but incised at a later date, quite in contrast to the M.L.G or the Valsuani stamps, which had been added into the soft wax surface. The plaster models (positives) and hollow moulds (retainers) used for making gelatine impressions (negatives) for the production of the 36 busts for the Barbedienne as well as Valsuani editions were destroyed on March 2, 1965 in the presence of Mme Le Garrec and a notary public at the Valsuani factory to ascertain that no more copies from the original cast would be made.

The Valsuani bronzes are considered rare and hardly ever appear on the Art market. They usually fetch a higher price than the bronzes from the Barbedienne foundry.

THE CLAUDE VALSUANI FOUNDRY (lost wax process)

Marcello Valsuani emigrated from Italy to France and worked initially as technical director at the Hébrard foundry by 1902. He returned to Italy before World War I. In 1908, his son Claude established a foundry at 74 Rue des Plantes in Paris. He specialized in the lost wax process (cire perdue). He was one of the first founders to explicitly number his casts (usually a maximum of 10 pieces). After Claude’s death in Malgrate, Italy in 1923, his son Marcel succeeded him using the cachet “C. Valsuani”, while his younger brother Attilo managed the foundry for a limited time while Claude’s widow took care of the administration. The Valsuani foundry acquired a great reputation for its castings in the lost wax method. Tullio Clementi learned the art of foundry still from Claude Valsuani, before opening his own studio.

It is important to understand in connection with Daumier’s Louis XIV sculpture that Marcel Valsuani sub-contracted other foundries, which used the sand cast

method (E. Lebon, “Fondeurs de Bronze d’Art”, 2003, Marjon éditions, Perth, Australia, p. 260) like Susse, Rudier etc. In 1973, Marcel retired where after the company was managed for a year by Antoine Tamburro, before it was sold to Anne Demeurisse, daughter of the sculptor Pompon. (For additional detailed information about the further developments in connection with this label please consult the book by E. Lebon.)

The firm worked for a number of famous artists including Renoir, Bourdelle, Daumier, Picasso, Pompon, Despiau, Troubetskoy, and especially Matisse.