vase (or as vase)

[Fr., from Lat. vasum, vas =a vase, a ve el.] I. Ord. Language : A ve el of various forms and materials, applied to the purposes of domestic life, sacrificial uses, . They were often used merely for ornament, or were at least primarily ornamental in character and design. The antique vases found in great numbers in ancient tombs and catacombs in Etruria, Southern Italy, Greece, Sicily, ., and used to contain the ashes of the dead, were for the most part made of baked clay, painted and glazed, though by the Egyptians, Greeks, and Ottomans other materials, such as precious stones, gold, silver, bronze, ivory, and gla , were used. One form of vase seems to have been peculiar in Etruriaviz., black or red ve els, with figures in relief upon them. A favorite kind of vase, introduced into Rome by Pompey, was called Murrhine (q. v.). Another kind was the cameo vase, made of two layers of gla , the outer of which was opaque, and was cut down so as to leave figures standing out upon the lower layer as aground. To this cla belongs the celebrated Portland Vase in the British Museum. The gla vases of Venice became famous in the beginning of the sixteenth century, and in the same and following centuries many vases of the highest artistic performance were produced in Italy, France, and Germany. The porcelain vases of China and Japan are also characterized by great elegance of form and beauty of ornamentation. IMG:content-0414.png:[blocks in formation] tinct system. Used also of the operation of those nerves. "Our explanation of vaso - motor action would be very simple." Foster : Physiol . (ed. 4th), p. 208. vaso-motorial, a . [VASO-MOTOR.]