The present model is an extremely fine terracotta cast of a work modelled by Rodin whilst he was in the employment of the eminent romantic sculptor, Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse. At this time Carrier was director of the Sèvres porcelain works and employed a large studio to help him execute numerous public and private commissions.

It is clear from a drawing now in the collection of the Musée des Beaux Arts, Calais and also recorded by June Hargrove in ‘Life and Work of Albert Carrier-Belleuse’, that Carrier designed the vase himself before giving the project over to Rodin to execute.
The pencil drawing is typical of Carrier and shows languorous figures on top of an ornate pedestal supporting a large bulbous vase. The sculptural realization of the design is however unanimously attributed to Rodin and the complicated contrapposto and strong introverted gestures are typical of his hand. Indeed, the strong musculature, which was heavily influenced by Michelangelo, is typical of Rodin’s output at this stage.

Between 1875 and 1876, the young sculptor had visited Italy and in a letter to his long-term partner Rose Beuret he states that during the visit he had managed to learn ‘a few of the secrets of the great magician Michelangelo’. One can see a similar handling of the male form in Rodin’s seminal Thinker, which he modelled three years after the present work, in 1880.

The Vase of the Titans was exhibited in 1957 during the exhibition ‘Rodin, ses collaborateurs et ses amis’ at the Musée Rodin and was also produced in a glazed ceramic version that can be found in several museum collections, including the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Musée Rodin. However, the surface of the ceramic is devoid of the texture and detail of the terracotta works, which were cast in sections and then assembled and finished by hand.