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Trois Grandes Races

Electrotype Plaque
1861-1879 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Charles Cordier (Cambrai 1827 - Algiers 1905) was a fascinating sculptor who saw his own importance to both Science and Art in his work. In 1848, the year slavery was abolished in France, he caught visitors' attention at the Salon by exhibiting a bust of a Sudanese. He was a member of Society of Anthropology and brought back busts and medallions of his encounters during ethnographic missions (for the French Government) in Algeria, Greece and Egypt. He challenged notions of beauty believing strongly that: 'The most beautiful negro is not the one who looks most like us'.

This is an electrotype (an exact copy in metal of another object, made in a replication mould) of a medallion by Cordier of 1861 which itself reproduced, in relief, an etching (of about 1856) by his contemporary Henri Valentin. In this etching, entitled Trois Types de la Race Humaine, Valentin juxtaposed three busts by Cordier, referred to at the time as a 'Negro of the Sudan', an 'Arab of El Aghouat', and a 'Chinese Man'. These busts were donated by Cordier to the Anthropological Society, Paris, in 1862. Valentin identified these respectively on his work as Japhet, Sem and Cham, the sons of Noah from whom, according to biblical tradition, we are all descended.


Object details

Category
Object type
TitleTrois Grandes Races (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Electrotype
Brief description
Electrotype plaque, of 'Trois Grandes Races', ca. 1860s-1870s, a bronze medallion by Charles Cordier, probably made in Paris, dated 1861
Physical description
Electrotype of a bronze medallion.
Dimensions
  • Height: 17cm
  • Width: 19.7cm
  • Depth: 1.2cm
Marks and inscriptions
'C. Cordier.' (In italic script, running up bottom left edge of electrotype)
Object history
NB The term "negro" was used historically to describe people of black African heritage but, since the 1960s, has fallen from usage and, increasingly, is considered offensive. The term is repeated here in its original historical context.

This is an electrotype of Trois Grandes Races, a bronze medallion by Cordier of 1861 - which is no.580, though not illustrated, in the catalogue raisonné published with the Musée d'Orsay Cordier exhibition of 2004. According to the catalogue, the Galerie Elseneur in Paris had the medallion at that time, though they have not responded to an emailed request for information about its current whereabouts.

The medallion reproduces in relief an etching (one ref says engraving) by Henri Valentin (1822-1886) of Trois Types de la Race Humaine (1856?) now at the Musée d'Orsay. This work by Valentin was reproduced as the frontispiece to an album of 19 photographs taken by Charles Marville of Cordier's sculptures (Sculptures Ethnographiques, Marbres et Bronzes d'après divers types de races humaines). The album was Cordier's initiative. Valentin and Cordier would have known each other; both studied under the sculptor François Rude (1784-1855).

Valentin's etching in turn juxtaposes three busts by Cordier, of a 'Negro of the Sudan', an 'Arab of El Aghouat', and a 'Chinese Man', which were donated by Cordier to the Anthropological Society, Paris, in 1862. Their whereabouts are now unknown. In the etching these are identified respectively as Japhet, Sem and Cham; the names of the sons of Noah from whom, according to biblical tradition, we are all descended.
Historical context
Charles Cordier (Cambrai 1827 - Algiers 1905), a pupil of Rude, occupies a special place in French sculpture of the second half of the nineteenth century. In 1848, the very year slavery was abolished in France, he caught visitors' attention at the Salon by exhibiting a bust of a Sudanese. Appropriating an ethnographic science then only in its beginnings, he was also remarkable for his use of polychromy in sculpture, in particular of the onyx-marble of Algeria. From his ethnographic missions in Algeria, Greece and Egypt, he brought back busts and medallions, portraits born of his encounters with the local inhabitants.

Cordier has several links with the history of the V&A. He exhibited at the Great Exhibition in 1851 (from which Queen Victoria bought his 'Saïd Abdallah' and another bust) and at the International Exhibition of 1862 (and widely especially in Paris and London 1848-1906). He invited Rodin to work with him in Nice in 1879 on the balcony of the Villa Neptune, for which Cordier paid Rodin 3 francs/hour.
Summary
Charles Cordier (Cambrai 1827 - Algiers 1905) was a fascinating sculptor who saw his own importance to both Science and Art in his work. In 1848, the year slavery was abolished in France, he caught visitors' attention at the Salon by exhibiting a bust of a Sudanese. He was a member of Society of Anthropology and brought back busts and medallions of his encounters during ethnographic missions (for the French Government) in Algeria, Greece and Egypt. He challenged notions of beauty believing strongly that: 'The most beautiful negro is not the one who looks most like us'.

This is an electrotype (an exact copy in metal of another object, made in a replication mould) of a medallion by Cordier of 1861 which itself reproduced, in relief, an etching (of about 1856) by his contemporary Henri Valentin. In this etching, entitled Trois Types de la Race Humaine, Valentin juxtaposed three busts by Cordier, referred to at the time as a 'Negro of the Sudan', an 'Arab of El Aghouat', and a 'Chinese Man'. These busts were donated by Cordier to the Anthropological Society, Paris, in 1862. Valentin identified these respectively on his work as Japhet, Sem and Cham, the sons of Noah from whom, according to biblical tradition, we are all descended.
Bibliographic reference
de Margerie, Laure and Papet, Édouard, Facing the other : Charles Cordier (1827-1905), ethnographic sculptor; (contributions by Christine Barthe and Maria Vigli ; translated from the French), New York, 2004, see esp. pp.147 and 218
Collection
Accession number
A.6-2010

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Record createdOctober 14, 2010
Record URL
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