The Barberí foundry's activity has historically been linked to the town of Olot, although nowadays our workshops are based in Riudellots de la Selva (Girona).

According to historians Miquel de Garganta and Josep Maria Dou, the foundry's origins can be traced back to 1544. During that early period, three Italian brothers who had been travelling around towns and regions working in the art of bell-making arrived in Olot.

After spending some years there, the brothers continued on their travels but Miquel, the youngest of the three, married a local woman and settled down in Olot. According to Garganta and Dou, one of the first pieces produced by the Barberí foundry was the bell at Sant Miquel de Falgars, which dates back to the mid-16th century.

The oldest documented work produced during the Barberí foundry's early years dates back to the 18th century.

Although its foundry activity can be traced back to the 16th century, the only records that have been preserved from these first centuries of the Barberí artistic foundry’s history refer to some of the bells that were cast, such as the bells of Capsec, which date back to 1788, and one of the two bells in the church of Sant Andreu del Coll, from 1797.

The ancient art of melting metals has been kept practically intact, even though in the last 25 years some technologies to facilitate the hardest works have been incorporated.

The work of the Barberí artistic foundry is much better documented from the 19th century onwards. Of particular note from that period are the bells that it produced.

We find, among others, the recasting of the main bell of Sant Joan les Fonts, in 1817, carried out by Miquel Barberí, and that of Santa Bàrbara de Pruneres, in 1826, which the records attribute to Esteve and Miquel Barberí. Another work bearing the Barberí hallmark is the bell created in 1833 for the Chapel of Sant Francesc, situated on the peak of the Montsacopa volcano, in the Olot municipal area, and the largest bell of the Church of Sant Esteve d'Olot. In fact, most of the bells in the region were made by the Barberí foundry.

The Barberí foundry's work was shown at the Universal Exhibition in Barcelona in 1888, where it was awarded the gold medal for the beauty, perfection and excellent sonority of two of its bells, one produced for El Mallol and the other, for Sant Hipòlit de Voltregà.

Although most of the records that have been preserved document Barberí's work in the art of bell-making, during the 19th century the foundry also cast some important statues. Furthermore, some bronze cooking pots produced by Barberí during this period have also been preserved, although this activity was in fact recorded as early as the 17th century. Barberí has even produced artillery: during the Third Carlist War (1872-1876) it cast cannons for both sides in the conflict: the Carlists and the republicans.

During the 20th century Barberí cast a large number of bells, as during the Spanish Civil War many of these had been melted down to be used to produce weapons.

Before the war, Barberí had cast some important bells: in particular, the bell in the Sagrat Cor Church in Tibidabo, Barcelona (1928), weighing more than 1000 kg and measuring 1.20m in diameter. After the war, work to remake and cast bells was continuous. The bells of Girona Cathedral, which had withstood previous wars and foreign invasions, are a good example. On this occasion they did not survive the initial fury of the conflict and the Barberí family were commissioned to cast the new ones in 1946.

The artistic foundry took on special importance during the first half of the 20th century. The sculptures from that period stand out for their sheer size.

Among the most important pieces, we find one of the groups in the monument to Dr. Robert (mayor of republican Barcelona), an original by Joaquim Llimona, which was to have been installed in Plaça de la Universitat in Barcelona, but which Franco's government hid away for almost forty years in one of the city's municipal warehouses. Other noteworthy pieces from this period include the statue of The Republic, work of the sculptor Viladomat, which formed part of the Francesc Pi i Margall monument, erected in Barcelona on the intersection between the streets of Passeig de Gràcia and Diagonal (known as the Cinc d'Ors) (1934), a sculpture by Marés, the group Barcelona, for Plaça de Catalunya in Barcelona (1928); the high altar in the monastery of Ripoll, following a design by Rubió; and The Abundance sculpture, installed in Barcelona's Plaça d’Espanya, work of the Oslé brothers.

The bronze statue of Saint Helena, work of Eduard Batiste Alentorn, which since 1913 has crowned the dome of Barcelona Cathedral, was cast in the Barberí foundry.

At 4.85 metres tall and weighing more than four tonnes, even the architect Antoni Gaudí remarked on her beauty and perfection, defining the statue as one of the most beautiful in Barcelona.

The statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, by Josep Miret, was also cast by the Barberí artistic foundry. This enormous bronze statue that crowns the Church of Tibidabo measures 7.40 metres in height and weighs 4,800 kilos. It was put in place in 1950, to substitute the original by Frederic Marès, which was destroyed in 1936.

In September 1932, Barberí cast the six-metre tall Christ the King statue in bronze, which was commissioned for Ocaña in Colombia. It has also created busts of General Trujillo for the Dominican Republic.

Throughout its long history, Barberí has reproduced the work of innumerable artists in bronze. Many of these pieces are on display in the most important cities in the world, such as "Conversation Piece" by Juan Muñoz, which can be seen in New York’s Central Park, and "The Fountain" by Joseph Poelaert, situated in Place Rouppe in Brussels.

Barberí has frequently collaborated with internationally renowned artists, such as Antoni Tàpies, Javier Mariscal, Rosa Serra, Soledad Sevilla, Xavier Corberó, Juan Muñoz and Jaume Plensa.

The Barberí family's activity continued until the death of Pere Barberí in 1976 and the subsequent retirement of his brother Iu, the last descendents of the family dedicated to the foundry business. After this, the task of managing the business passed into the hands of Ramon Castey.

The Barberí foundry's tradition was officially recognised in October 1981, when the Girona Chamber of Commerce awarded it for its longevity.

During its long history, the Barberí artistic foundry has cast bells, cannons, sculptures and cookware. In 1996, with the introduction of non-stick materials and the expansion of its product range, a new division was created to work exclusively on casting cookware. This was the birth of Castey, nowadays a leading company in the cookware sector.