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Vase.

A large cup or open-mouthed jar, with handles.

The ample variety of Egyptian forms may be understood when it is said that the modern teapot form, the large oil-jar, the China vase, the common pitcher, the water-ewer, the ale and wine glasses, the flower-glasses, the drinking-goblet, the beaker, and the bowl are all to be seen in Egyptian paintings. Analysis and observation prove that the Etruscan and Campanian pottery included most kinds now known, including porcelain, and that they had glazes of glass, lead, and salt. Of the Athenian vases some are fluted, some of a jet black, and others a bright red. The Corinthians had a heavy coarse black ware. That of Athens was the lightest and most elegant, that of Sicyon the brightest and most ancient. The Greeks had also pink vases with black silhouettes.

The Barberini or Portland vase is the largest and best preserved specimen of ancient paste glass. The figures represent the nuptials of Thetis and Peleus.

For a treatise on vases, see Fosbroke's “Encyclopaedia of Antiquities,” 1.233-243.

See also Rawlinson's “Five great Empires,” Vol. I. 389 – 391.

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