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 Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse and Auguste Rodin’s Vase of the Gods, also called the Vase of the Titans.
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| "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.
Rodin's figures for the base of Vase of the Gods
The workshop of Carrier-Belluse did sculpting for a number of different decorative groups with its work for Minton in the 1850s and Sèvres in the 1860s, until his passing, being the most well known.
Albert-Ernest’s relationship with Rodin was fundamentally that of a mentor and employer to a talented student. Carrier-Belleuse took on Rodin as an assistant in 1864. Rodin worked under Carrier-Belleuse at Sèvres until about 1870 when Carrier-Belleuse fired Rodin. The two reconciled seven years later and began work on the vase. Unfortunately Carrier-Belleuse died in 1887 before the vases could go into production.
The original drawing for the vase
by Carrier-Belleuse
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Augustus Rodin
 Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse  |
| Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse as modeled by Rodin |
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Designed for Sèvres, most of the vases were manufactured at Choisy-le-Roi in polychrome glazed terra-cotta. An unglazed terra-cotta example was also manufactured at Sèvres.
Terracotta Vase of the Gods. The Greek key on the jardiniere
is a contrast to the more ornate examples made as Choisy-le-Roi
The vase was first produced in 1890 under the supervision of the artistic director of Choisy-le-Roi, Louis-Robert Carrier-Belleuse, the son of Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse, The oldest known is the terracotta version made at Sèvres with the first polychrome example from Choisy-le-Roi, dated 1890, in Philadelphia. They were retailed in a limited edition under the Carrier-Bellevue name without any attribution for Rodin whose participation was not officially acknowledged until 1957. Each vase is slightly different with variations in the jardiniere design as well as the glaze.
Vase of the Gods in polychrome terracotta with handles,
manufactured by Choisy-le-Roi
Vase of the Gods at the Petit Palai
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 figures are visually tied together by drapery. 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.
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."
Rodin sculpture for a titan
Rodin sculpture for a titan
The entire piece was manufactured in a variety of different colors and only a few complete examples have survived intact. Complete examples can now be seen at the Petit Palais in Paris, the Detroit Institute of Arts, The Houston Museum of Art and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.