Establishing the Paris Foundry (1908)

Claude Valsuani established his bronze foundry in Paris, eventually settling at the address that would become synonymous with exceptional lost-wax casting: 74 Rue des Plantes in the 14th arrondissement.

The Founding Date: 1908

The establishment date is documented. The foundry’s own business letterhead states “FONDEE EN 1908” (Founded in 1908), and the first “C. VALSUANI CIRE PERDUE” stamps appear on independent castings from the summer of 1908. Claude had left Hébrard’s studio at the end of 1907 and opened his own foundry at 74 Rue des Plantes the following year.

A later article in Le Monde Contemporain claims “C’est en 1890 qu’il monta à Paris la première fonderie à cire perdue”, but this date is a journalistic error. In 1890 Claude was fourteen years old and still living in Crescenzago; he only arrived in Paris in 1899, where he first worked as an apprentice at the Gruet foundry. The article’s value lies in naming Claude as the founder, not in its dating.

The 14th Arrondissement Context

The 14th arrondissement, particularly the area around Montparnasse, was the heart of Parisian artistic production in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Artists, sculptors, foundries, and supporting trades clustered in this district, creating an ecosystem of creative production. Claude’s choice of location placed him at the epicenter of the bronze casting world.

Technical Excellence

From its founding in 1908, the foundry rapidly earned a reputation for technical excellence that attracted the most demanding sculptors of the era, artists for whom casting fidelity was paramount to their artistic vision.