Achille Collas (1795–1859) was a French engineer, inventor, writer and engraver who developed a way of mechanically creating engravings after medallions and other reliefs, and a machine to copy sculptures at a smaller scale, the so-called "réduction méchanique", which popularized small sculptures and has been credited with being almost entirely responsible for "the transformation of the bronze industry". Achille Collas was born in Paris in 1795. He worked as an engineer before joining the Army at the end of the

First French Empire The First French Empire, officially the French Republic, then the French Empire (; Latin: ) after 1809, also known as Napoleonic France, was the empire ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte, who established French hegemony over much of continental ...

. Afterwards he worked as a toolmaker and inventor. He never married. He applied for many patents, most of them for long-forgotten inventions for buckle-making machines and other tools. His most successful inventions had to do with the reproduction of 3D artworks in 2D and 3D. He produced the illustrations for ''The authors of England: A series of medallion portraits of modern literary characters, engraved from the works of British artists'' by

Henry Fothergill Chorley Henry Fothergill Chorley (15 December 1808 – 16 February 1872) was an English literary, art and music critic, writer and editor. He was also an author of novels, drama, poetry and lyrics. Chorley was a prolific and important music and litera ...

from 1838: this work contains a ten-page introduction outlining the new procedure of mechanically creating engravings from cameos and medals, developed by Collas. He developed this method between 1825 and 1832, demonstrating it at the

Salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon ...

of 1833. Using this procedure, he created the ''Trésor de numismatique et glyptique''. When it was finished in 1850, it reproduced some 15,000 items, spread over 20 volumes. His second great invention came in 1836, when he produced a

pantograph A pantograph (, from their original use for copying writing) is a mechanical linkage connected in a manner based on parallelograms so that the movement of one pen, in tracing an image, produces identical movements in a second pen. If a line dr ...

-like machine to reproduce sculptures in different scales and materials. In 1838, he started a company together with

Ferdinand Barbedienne Ferdinand Barbedienne (6 August 1810 – 21 March 1892) was a French metalworker and manufacturer, who was well known as a bronze founder. Career The son of a small farmer from Calvados, he started his career as a dealer in wallpaper in Paris ...

, the "Société Collas et Barbedienne", for the production and marketing of reduced copies of sculptures in different materials ranging from plaster and wood to bronze and ivory. The first product of the company was a reproduction of the ''

Venus de Milo The ''Venus de Milo'' (; el, Αφροδίτη της Μήλου, Afrodíti tis Mílou) is an Ancient Greece, ancient Greek sculpture that was created during the Hellenistic art, Hellenistic period, sometime between 150 and 125 BC. It is one of ...

'', but for the next ten years nothing much happened, until Barbedienne sent some pieces to

The Great Exhibition The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, also known as the Great Exhibition or the Crystal Palace Exhibition (in reference to the temporary structure in which it was held), was an international exhibition which took pl ...

of 1851, where the company received a special medal. Further success came in 1855, when Collas was awarded the Grand Médaille d'Honneur of the

Exposition Universelle Exposition (also the French for exhibition) may refer to: *Universal exposition or World's Fair *Expository writing **Exposition (narrative) *Exposition (music) *Trade fair * ''Exposition'' (album), the debut album by the band Wax on Radio *Exposi ...

in Paris. By the time of Barbedienne's death in 1892 the company had some 600 employees. It existed until 1954.

Notes

External links

Biography
at the Walter Scott Digital Archive, by the Edinburgh University Library {{DEFAULTSORT:Collas, Achille 1795 births 1859 deaths 19th-century French inventors Engineers from Paris