Vase (c. 1862): Art, History and Details

Vase (c. 1862) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Firm of Ferdinand Barbedienne (French, 1810–1892); Louis-Constant Sévin (French, 1821–1888).

The work and its context

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

This vase vibrantly encapsulates the admiration for historical works of art and architecture that dominated the 1800s. It features stylistic qualities of ancient Egyptian, ancient Greek, and medieval Islamic art with its cat legs, amphora shape, and spiraling foliage ornamentation. The enameling technique itself, called champlevé, has roots in the ancient world. Champlevé enameling involves carving out sections of metal before filling those areas with colored enamel. The vase model was introduced at the International Exhibition of London in 1862, and its popularity resulted in several color and shape variations.

Object facts

• Title: Vase
• Date: c. 1862
• Creator attribution: Firm of Ferdinand Barbedienne (French, 1810–1892); Louis-Constant Sévin (French, 1821–1888)
• Culture: France, 19th century
• Type: Metalwork
• Technique: gilt bronze with enamel decoration
• Dimensions: Overall: 78.7 x 27.3 cm (31 x 10 3/4 in.)
• Collection: Decorative Arts
• Department: Decorative Art and Design
• Accession number: 1996.295

Collection credit

The Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Cleveland Museum of Art, “Renaissance Armor, Early Islamic Ceramic, French Vase, Gleitsman Painting Added to Museum Collection,” December 13, 1996, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives.

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.