Bacchantes Embracing, Small Model (Bacchantes s'enlaçant, petit modèle)
European Art
Rodin employed skilled assistants to make reductions or enlargements of his works using a machine invented in 1836 by the engineer Achille Collas. The model to be recreated in a new size would be placed on a turntable. On a second turntable, connected to the first, would be a clay or plaster “blank,” roughly shaped to resemble the work being resized but on an enlarged or reduced scale. The machine kept the model and the blank in the same orientation while the technician used a tracing needle linked to a sharp cutting instrument (or stylus) to transfer a succession of profiles from the model onto the blank. Gradually the blank was worked so that it became a larger or smaller duplicate of the model.
This process allowed Rodin to offer popular works at a variety of prices.
MEDIUM
Bronze
DATES
possibly before 1896; cast after 1967
DIMENSIONS
6 5/8 x 6 1/4 x 4 1/4 in. (16.8 x 15.9 x 10.8 cm)
(show scale)
MARKINGS
Lower edge near signature: "CIRE PERDUE AF"
SIGNATURE
Base, in back of figure with raised knee: "Rodin"
INSCRIPTIONS
Interior, lower edge: "4/12"
ACCESSION NUMBER
84.77.3
CREDIT LINE
Gift of Iris and B. Gerald Cantor
MUSEUM LOCATION
This item is not on view
CAPTION
Auguste Rodin (French, 1840–1917). Bacchantes Embracing, Small Model (Bacchantes s'enlaçant, petit modèle), possibly before 1896; cast after 1967. Bronze, 6 5/8 x 6 1/4 x 4 1/4 in. (16.8 x 15.9 x 10.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Iris and B. Gerald Cantor, 84.77.3. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 84.77.3_bw_SL3.jpg)
EDITION
Edition: 4/12
IMAGE
overall, 84.77.3_bw_SL3.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
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RIGHTS STATEMENT
Creative Commons-BY
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RECORD COMPLETENESS
Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and
we welcome any additional information you might have.
Are these figures the same? Were they made using the machine invented by Rodin?
Yes, in the 19th century it was very common for sculptors to produce multiples of their work at different scales. These were never numbered or limited in production!
Rodin did not invent the reduction machine himself, but he and his studio assistants definitely made use of it!
Rodin used the Collas machinem which was similar to an earlier reduction machine made by the Englishman Benjamin Cheverton in 1828 (patented 1844).