Story

Calla à Paris is the brand of the Calla foundries.

Biography:

Christophe François Calla (February 5, 1802 in Paris – February 24, 1884 in Nice)

Nationality: French

Address: 28, Faubourg Poissonnière, Paris, then 92 rue Poissonnière, also rue Chabrol

Christophe François Calla is the son of François Étienne Calla (1762-1836). At the age of 23, he was put in charge of the reorganization of the Châtellerault arms factory. Then he took over from his father as director of the Calla factories in 1835 and continued the development of the family business by focusing more on the industrial foundry and art foundry business.

Now located on rue de Chabrol, the Calla factories are participating in the largest projects in the city of Paris such as the reunification of the architectures constituting the Palais des Tuileries and that of the Louvre (metal frame), the Sainte-Geneviève Library (in 1842, Labrouste entrusted it with the construction of the framework) … It is also to Christophe François Calla that we owe the ornamental fonts of the Pantheon, the framework and the ornamental fonts of the Saint-Vincent-de-Paul church created by his friend the architect Jacques Hittorff (1792-1867) and located in the Poissonnière district, near its foundries. He participated in the construction of the Madeleine church, providing the tens of tons of cast iron used, and the Notre-Dame de Lorette church.

In 1839, he won a gold medal at the French Industry Exhibition. In 1841, his first album included 12 plates, or a quarter of his offering (he was the first to publish a catalog). In 1844, he received an award for a fountain, vases, grilles… Its factory also produces industrial cast iron (for artillery pieces during the siege of Paris, 1870-1871).

Christophe François Calla was the first to manufacture decorative ornaments for public and private buildings in cast iron on a large scale. Hittorff had initially planned for his friend Calla to create the fountains, rostral columns and large candelabra of Place de la Concorde. Finally they are made by the Muel house, in Tusey near Vaucouleurs in the Meuse. Christophe François Calla, on the other hand, created the four fountains of the Carré Marigny in the promenades of the Champs-Élysées (Fontaine de Diane, Fontaine de la Grille du Coq, Fontaine des Quatre Saisons and Fontaine de Vénus). The “signature” of the Calla foundry is still visible on the various works cited here. We can therefore grant the Calla and Muel houses the honor of having created the art font industry in France. The first large cast irons, such as statues or ornamental pieces, came out of the Calla and Muel foundries. Christophe François Calla became a founder for artists such as James Pradier and his student Antoine Étex. He took charge of the casting of the Amazon of the Cirque d’été, historically installed at the Rond-point des Champs-Élysées, a copy of which also cast by Calla remains today on the pediment of the Cirque d’hiver. He is the founder of the statue of Saint Louis sculpted by Antoine Étex or the reproduction of the statue of David d’Angers representing Gutenberg, the original of which is in Strasbourg and the copy in the main courtyard of the Imprimerie nationale in Paris. He also produced numerous copies of works of art in cast iron or regula. Nine of his fire pots or Medici-type vases still exist today on the Parterre du Midi of the Château de Versailles. In 1839, he created the fountain in Square Louvois (rue de Richelieu; opposite the national library) which bears the inscription “cast by Calla in 1839”.

During the 1851 exhibition, a large composition by Mr. Fratin, representing two eagles swooping down on their prey, clearly stood out. “We can especially see a large composition by Mr. Fratin, representing two eagles swooping down on their prey. This group was founded by Mr. Calla, of Paris, whose reputation as one of our first iron and bronze founders is so well established that it exempts us from any praise for him. This sculpture is probably in Central Park today.”

In 1852, he developed a new specialty in mechanical factories by being the first in France to create a locomobile, a double-acting steam engine used in agriculture and industry. The locomotive makes it possible to drive threshers in the fields and production lines. he will turn to industrial cast iron, abandoning art cast iron.

In 1868, he sold his factories to the Chaligny (Faidherbe-Chaligny) and Guyot Sionnest families.

He is one of the founders of the Comptoir national d’escompte de Paris and a member of the General Council of Manufacturers and the Board of Directors of the Society for the Encouragement of National Industry.

Sources and external links

Sources: 1) The man who was the first of the art founders has not benefited from research and publication. A book is in preparation. – 2) DEVAUX (Yves), L’univers des bronzes…, Paris, 1978, p. 262-263. – 3) HACHET (Jean-Charles), Dictionnaire illustré des sculpteurs animaliers et fondeurs, de l’Antiquité à nos jours, 2 vols. 18,000 pages, 2005. Les fondeurs, tome II, p.823. – 4) RENARD (Jean-Claude), L’âge de la fonte ; un art, une industrie, 1800-1914, Paris, 1985, p. 38-39. – 5) La fonderie française à l’exposition du Crystal Palace – Rapport sur l’exposition de 1851 : XXIIe jury. – 6) To read his obituary by Jules Baudry, visit the Cnam digital conservatory: Société des ingénieurs civils 1884 page 368 to 378 http://cnum.cnam.fr/CGI/fpage.cgi?ECCMC6.40/368/0/760/755/760