Rodin's Vase of the Gods

If you find yourself visiting my hometown of Philadelphia you may want to check out the 19th century European decorative arts section of the fine Philadelphia Museum of Art for one of their recent auction acquisitions–––a glazed terra cotta example of Auguste Rodin’s Vase of the Gods, also called the Vase of the Titans.

"Vase of the Gods" in Philadelphia  photo: Ulysses Grant Dietz

The plinth and bowl was designed by the workshop of Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse with figures modeled by Rodin. Carrier-Belleuse retailed the set in a limited edition under the Carrier-Bellevue name without any attribution for Rodin whose participation was not officially acknowledged until 1957.

The workshop of Carrier-Belluse did sculpting for a number of different decorative groups with its work for Mintons in the 1850s the most well known. Albert-Ernest’s relationship with Rodin was fundamentally that of a mentor and employer to a talented student. After working as his assistant between 1866-1870, Rodin freelanced for his mentor as an independent contractor for the next seven years with the Vase of the Titans produced in the final year of their collaboration.

Auguste Rodin

Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse

Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse as modeled by Rodin

Manufactured primarily at the Severes porcelain factory in glazed terra-cotta, the piece was also made by license at other potteries in different bodies including majolica glazed earthenware from the factory at Choisy-le-Roi managed by Hippolyte Boulanger.

Vase of the Gods in majolica at the Petit Palais

In a description from the web site of the Musee-Rodin in Paris where the original plinth can be found:

"The bodies here have a tormented force entirely keeping with the depiction of the mythological Titans, the primitive giants vanquished by the Gods of Olympus."

The piece consists of a plinth of four seated male figures topped by a bowl jardinière. The plinth figures recall the work of Michelangelo’s unfinished “Slave” series where the figures appear to struggle to release themselves from the stone surround.  Here the four titan telemons support a plain ionic central column on which the oak leaf decorated bowl sits. The bowl in contrast is in a classic Greek Dinos shape with a modeled bough of oak branches encircling the jardinière directly under the lip. 

The entire piece was manufactured in a variety of different colors and only a few complete examples have survived intact. The example at the Petit Palais in France is the only example in earthenware majolica that I know of. Complete examples can now be seen in museums at the Petit Palais n Paris, the Detroit Institute of Arts, The Houston Museum of Art and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.