Between Marble and Clay: Astier de Villatte’s “Baigneuse” and Thorvaldsen’s Venus

Between Marble and Clay: Astier de Villatte’s “Baigneuse” and Thorvaldsen’s Venus

There are few objects that so effortlessly bridge centuries, cultures, and philosophies of beauty as Astier de Villatte’s Baigneuse (The Bather) — a ceramic figure inspired by Bertel Thorvaldsen’s Venus with the Apple.


A Danish Vision of Classical Grace

Created between 1813 and 1816, Thorvaldsen’s Venus with the Apple stands among the sculptor’s most celebrated works — a vision of calm perfection drawn from the ideals of classical antiquity. In the myth, Venus has just been awarded the golden apple by Paris, a symbol of divine beauty. Yet in Thorvaldsen’s hands she appears not triumphant but contemplative: her gaze lowered, her pose suspended between modesty and pride.

Carved in luminous marble, the figure embodies what became known as the Danish Golden Age’s serene ideal — harmony, purity of line, and emotion restrained by balance.

Today the original marble remains at the Thorvaldsens Museum in Copenhagen, where its quiet power continues to define Denmark’s contribution to European neoclassicism.


A Parisian Reawakening

Two centuries later, within the ateliers of Astier de Villatte, Thorvaldsen’s goddess finds new form in clay. Hand-shaped in black terracotta and finished with the maison’s signature milky white glaze, the Baigneuse translates marble’s stillness into something intimate and alive — a sculpture meant not for the museum but for the home.

Each piece is crafted in Paris by a single artisan, then stamped with the Astier de Villatte monogram and the initials of its maker — a quiet affirmation of heritage and hand. Where Thorvaldsen sought divine proportion, Astier celebrates human touch: the subtle mark of the craftsman, the delicate irregularities that make each piece singular, the glaze that catches light like morning water.


The Dialogue of Craft and Culture

In this meeting of Danish sculpture and French ceramics, a dialogue unfolds between two visions of beauty — one ideal and eternal, the other tactile and poetic. Both honor the body as a vessel of grace; both seek to capture the fleeting in enduring form.

At BON TON goods, that conversation lies at the heart of everything we curate: between the north’s clarity and the south’s romance, between the discipline of tradition and the warmth of the handmade. The Baigneuse reminds us that artistry need not remain frozen in marble — it can live again in clay, in fire, in the hands of those who continue to shape the world’s quiet wonders.


Shop the Collection

Explore our selection of Astier de Villatte ceramics, handmade in Paris and inspired by centuries of artistry, imagination, and luminous craftsmanship.

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