Hand Mirror (c. 1900): Art, History and Details

Hand Mirror (c. 1900) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Félix Bracquemond (French, 1833–1914); Auguste Rodin (French, 1840–1917); Alexander Riquet (French); Alexis Falize (French, 1811–1898).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

We often think of art as the work of just one person. In the case of this mirror, its harmonious appearance conceals the number of people involved in its creation. The designer Félix Bracquemond was commissioned by wealthy banker Baron Joseph Vitta to create decorative objects for his multiple homes. Bracquemond worked with other artists in making this mirror: well-known sculptor Auguste Rodin created the figure of Venus; artisan Alexandre Riquet fashioned the elaborate enameled decoration; and goldsmiths from Parisian jewelers Falize Frères completed the mirror and its blue translucent frame embedded with yellow, pink, and white flowers. Through close collaboration between patron, designer, and artists, this mirror represents the trend at the end of the 1800s for blending artistic specialties to create a single work of art. The CMA’s collection includes Bracquemond’s preparatory drawings for the mirror and Rodin’s carved plaster model for the figure of Venus.

Object facts

• Title: Hand Mirror
• Date: c. 1900
• Creator attribution: Félix Bracquemond (French, 1833–1914); Auguste Rodin (French, 1840–1917); Alexander Riquet (French); Alexis Falize (French, 1811–1898)
• Culture: France
• Type: Miscellaneous
• Technique: gold, enamel, and ivory
• Dimensions: Overall: 32.2 x 16.1 x 1.2 cm (12 11/16 x 6 5/16 x 1/2 in.)
• Collection: Decorative Arts
• Department: Decorative Art and Design
• Accession number: 1978.43

A detail from the museum

The mirror’s relief of Venus may be the only example of Rodin providing an ornament for a small decorative object.

Collection credit

Gift of Ralph King, by exchange

Further reading listed by the museum

• Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain (10/26/2010 - 2/28/2011): "Jewelry by Artists, from Art Nouveau to the Avant-gardes", ex. cat. no. 177, p. 178-179.
• Lee, Sherman E. “The Year in Review for 1978.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 66, no. 1 (January 1979): 3–48.
• Weisberg, Gabriel P. “Baron Vitta and the Bracquemond/Rodin Hand Mirror.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 66, no. 8 (November 1979): 297–310.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.