PORTLAND VASE, a celebrated funeral vase, long in pos-
session of the Barberina family, but which was purchased
by Sir William Hamilton, and afterwards passed to the
Duchess of Portland for 1000 guineas. Its height is
about 10 inches, and its diameter where broadest 6.
There are upon it a variety of figures of most exquisite
workmanship, in bas-relief, of white opaque glass raised on a
ground of deep blue glass, which appears black except when held against the light. It seems to have been the work of many years, and there are antiquaries who date its production several centuries before the Christian era; since sculpture was declining in excellence even in the time of Alexander the Great. It was deposited in the British Museum in 1810 by the Duke of Portland.