As the nature of editions has varied during the last two centuries, the description of the editions must reflect these differences:
EDITIONS OF THE 19th CENTURY
Most of these editions are unlimited and unnumbered. This type of edition continued, for some artists, up until the Second World War.
LIFETIME CASTS (during the artist’s life):
-Old is the adjective for this type of cast
-Studio means the cast was made or finished under the control of the artist, by his studio.
-Beautiful example implies a possible intervention by the artist himself.
-Artist example means a real intervention by the sculptor.
AUTHENTIC CASTS (after artist’s death):
-Authentic is used for posthumous casts produced by an editor or entitled beneficiaries.
EDITIONS (before and after artist’s death):
An edition is old if it was started on the artist’s initiative. Posthumous concerns editions which begin after artist’s death, with the agreement of entitled beneficiaries.
EDITIONS OF THE 20th CENTURY
In contrast with those of the preceding century, these editions are often numbered and limited. However, the number of examples cast might not be inscribed on the example itself, but rather in archival documents. Editions were comprised variously of 10, 15, 20, or 50 examples, but progressively “settled” at 12 in France. In 1966, the French law defined the “original edition” : eight casts numbered from 1/8 to 8/8, plus four “artist examples”, numbered from I/IV to IV/IV.
The term “original edition” can also be extended to the above-mentioned, pre-1966 20th century editions.
CONTEMPORARY EDITIONS
Nowadays, in our profession, only “original edition” examples are presented, in addition to unique pieces. The date of the bronze is no longer approximate, as it is usually stamped in the cast by the foundry, or indicated by our documents.