Sculpture depicting "Diana the Huntress with Roe Deer", entirely in patinated bronze and a black marble base. Stamped "Reduction Mecanique, Collas Brevete" on the base.
This is a reproduction of the "Diana of Versailles", which is now in the Louvre Museum in Paris.
Provenance: France
Era: 19th century
Base dimensions: W20 x D16 cm
Dimensions: W28 x D23 x H45 cm
The official Collas mark is shown in the side profile with REDUCTION MECANIQUE around the perimeter and his name A. COLLAS, under the added word "BREVETE" which means "patented".
Achille Collas (1795-1859) was an important French engineer and inventor who developed a way to mechanically copy sculptures on a reduced scale, a process he called "réduction méchanique". The resulting dissemination of small sculptures and statues literally transformed the bronze industry.
He perfected his mechanical reproduction machine in 1836 and two years later formed his partnership with Barbedienne. They soon produced a version of the Venus de Milo, but business remained slow until the company presented its work at the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London (also known as the Crystal Palace Exhibition), where it received a special medal. Collas was also awarded a medal in 1855 at the Exposition Universelle in Paris.
