Casa (company) Masriera i Campins

Frederic Masriera i Manovens (Barcelona 1846-1932), a caster and goldsmith, and a sculptor by training, ran the economic and commercial side of the family jewellery workshop. Around 1880 he went into partnership with F. Vidal and his firm, F. Vidal i Cia, and together they enjoyed great prestige as interior decorators. This company was eventually wound up in and in 1891 Frederic Masriera set up his own business, an artistic foundry by the name of F. Masriera i Cia, which changed its name to Masriera i Campins in 1896 when he went into partnership with his nephew Antoni Campins i Vila (1871-1938). It became the most famous foundry in both Catalonia and the rest of Spain, was present at all the exhibitions held at that time and won various prizes.
One of its contributions was to revive the lost wax casting technique, which improved the quality of the pieces. They made reproductions of old art objects and created the so-called "bronzes de saló" (living room bronzes), specialising in small decorative sculptures that were affordable by a wider public.
They worked with many of the leading sculptors of the time such as E. Arnau, J. Reynés and M. Blay, smelting or making smaller reproductions of the works.
Until 1902 they sold the articles they made through external retailers, but that year they opened their own shop, which was decorated by V. Masriera. In 1904, A. Campins left the company and set up on his own in Madrid, and just two years later the Masrieras closed the foundry.