Susse Frères

Susse Frères
Name	Susse Frères
Founded	1839
Founder	Amédée Susse, Adrien Susse
Headquarters	Paris
Industry	Metalworking, Foundry, Art Casting
Products	Bronze sculpture, Cast-iron, Architectural fittings

Susse Frères is a Parisian metal foundry and art publisher founded in the 19th century that became prominent for producing bronzes, cast-iron works, and artistic editions associated with leading sculptors, architects, and institutions. The firm provided casting services and commercial editions that linked artists such as Auguste Rodin, Antoine-Louis Barye, and Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux to collectors, museums, and public commissions in France, United Kingdom, and the United States. Its activities intersected with major cultural institutions and events, including salons, expositions, and municipal programs in Paris and beyond.

History

Founded in 1839 by brothers Amédée Susse and Adrien Susse, the firm emerged during the July Monarchy and the Second Empire amid industrial and artistic growth in Paris. In the mid-19th century the company expanded its workshops near the Île de la Cité and on the Rue Vivienne, servicing commissions tied to the Exposition Universelle of 1855, the 1867 Exposition Universelle, and municipal projects under Haussmann’s renovation of Paris. Susse Frères operated alongside rival foundries such as Barbedienne foundry, Thiébaut frères, and Christofle, and engaged with sculptors connected to the École des Beaux-Arts and the Académie des beaux-arts.

Throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries the company navigated changes brought by the Franco-Prussian War, the Paris Commune, and the rise of public monuments during the Third Republic. In the interwar period Susse Frères adapted to shifts in taste driven by movements represented at the Salon des Artistes Français and the Salon d'Automne, while maintaining ties to municipal patrons such as the City of Paris and cultural bodies including the Louvre and the Musée d'Orsay.

Company and operations

Susse Frères combined artisanal bronze casting with industrial-scale ironwork, operating foundries, finishing studios, and sales galleries in Paris and showrooms frequented by collectors from London, New York, and Vienna. The firm employed techniques familiar to contemporaries at Barbedienne foundry and collaborated with architects associated with projects at Palais Garnier, Hôtel de Ville, and various municipal parks. Their workshops processed commissions from artists trained at the École des Beaux-Arts and received orders from cultural institutions such as the Musée du Luxembourg, the Opéra Garnier, and municipal councils across France.

Operations included lost-wax casting, sand casting, chasing, patination, and galvanic finishing, overseen by master founders who worked with molds provided by artists like François Rude, Jean-Antoine Houdon, and Camille Claudel. The company maintained a catalog of editions and atelier marks used to authenticate casts that entered collections at institutions such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and the Musée Rodin.

Products and innovations

The firm produced a range of products spanning small-scale bronzes, large public monuments, decorative fittings, and architectural ironwork for projects by architects like Charles Garnier, Hector Guimard, and Eugène Viollet-le-Duc. Susse Frères developed refinements in patination and multi-piece assembly that paralleled innovations at foundries associated with artists such as Auguste Rodin and Antoine-Louis Barye. Their repertoire included garden urns, statues, candelabra, fireplace mantels, and plaques commissioned for museums and municipal memorials honoring figures like Napoleon III, Victor Hugo, and Georges-Eugène Haussmann.

The firm also issued commercial editions of works by sculptors such as Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, Antoine-Louis Barye, and Paul Dubois, enabling wider dissemination through galleries linked to dealers in Paris, London, and New York City. Technical contributions included standardized casting practices that aided replicability for exhibition at venues like the 1900 Exposition Universelle.

Notable works and commissions

Susse Frères cast numerous public monuments, funerary sculptures, and architectural elements featured across France and abroad. Noteworthy castings were associated with sculptors who created works for the Place de la Concorde, the Jardin du Luxembourg, and municipal squares in cities such as Lyon and Marseille. The foundry produced editions of bronzes by Auguste Rodin that entered collections at the Musée Rodin and casts by Antoine-Louis Barye that were acquired by the Musée d'Orsay and the Louvre.

Commissions included architectural metalwork for projects by Charles Garnier at the Opéra Garnier and decorative program pieces for the Palais du Luxembourg and civic memorials erected after the Franco-Prussian War. The firm’s name appears on casts and plaques associated with works by Jean-Antoine Injalbert, Félix-Joseph Barrias, and Gabriel-Jules Thomas found in public and private collections internationally.

Collaborations and partnerships

Susse Frères collaborated with leading sculptors, architects, dealers, and cultural institutions. Partnerships included editions produced for sculptors such as Auguste Rodin, Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, Camille Claudel, and foundry collaborations comparable to those between Alexis Rudier and Rodin. The firm worked with art dealers and galleries in Paris and London—paralleling relationships involving Goupil & Cie and Galerie Georges Petit—and supplied metalwork to architects like Hector Guimard and Eugène Viollet-le-Duc on restoration projects and new commissions.

Institutional partnerships extended to museums and municipal authorities, resulting in deliveries to the Musée du Louvre, the Musée d'Orsay, and municipal parks managed by the City of Paris.

Collectors, market, and legacy

Bronzes and castings produced by Susse Frères entered collections of museums, aristocratic households, and collectors in cities such as Paris, London, New York City, Vienna, and St. Petersburg. The market for their editions has been active at auction houses and galleries, where works by associated sculptors—Auguste Rodin, Antoine-Louis Barye, Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, Camille Claudel—are traded and researched by curators at institutions including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and the Musée Rodin.

Susse Frères’ legacy persists through physical casts in public spaces and museum holdings, scholarship at the École du Louvre and the Institut national d'histoire de l'art, and references in provenance records maintained by archives such as the Archives nationales and auction catalogues of houses like Christie's and Sotheby's. Category:Foundries