and Thetis, sold for 6,000 francs, or £240. The collector Steuart was offered 7,500 francs, or £300, for a large krater, found in Southern Italy, ornamented with the subject of Kadmos and the dragon; £120 was paid by the British Museum for a fine krater ornamented with the exploits of Achilles[74]; £100 for an amphora of Apulian style, with the subject of Pelops and Oinomaos at the altar of the Olympian Zeus.[75] For another vase, with the name of Mousaios, £120 was paid, and £100 for the well-known Athenian prize vase excavated by Burgon.[76] At Mr. Beckford’s sale the Duke of Hamilton gave £200 for a lekythos representing a procession of Persians, which is now in the British Museum (E 695). At Naples the passion for possessing fine vases outstripped these prices; 2,400 ducats, or £500, was given for a vase with gilded figures discovered at Capua. Still more incredible, early in the nineteenth century, 8,000 ducats, or £1,500, was paid to Vivenzio for the vase now in the Naples Museum representing the sack of Troy; 6,000 ducats, or £1,000, for one with a Dionysiac feast; and 4,000 ducats, or £800, for the grand vase with the battle of the Amazons, published by Schulz.[77] Another vase, for which the sum of £1,000 was paid, was the so-called Capo di Monte Vase, purchased by Mr. Edwards, at Naples.[78] For the large colossal vases of Southern Italy from £300 to £500 has been given, according to their condition and style. But such sums will not be hereafter realised, now that their place in the estimation of the connoisseur has been rightly taken by the fine red-figured or white ground vases, which, owing to the stringency of modern laws, seldom now find their way into the market. The vases with white grounds and polychrome figures have also been always much sought after, and have realised large prices, the best-preserved examples fetching as much as £70 or £100.[79] Generally the highest prices have been paid for artistic merit, but these have been surpassed in the case of some vases of high literary or historical value. As a general rule vases with inscriptions have always been most sought after, especially when the inscriptions are the signatures of the names of potters or artists, or names of historical interest. The inferior kinds have fetched prices much more moderate, the kylikes averaging from £5 to £10, the amphorae from £10 to £20, the hydriae about the same; the kraters from £5 to £20, according to their general excellence, the oinochoae about £5, and other shapes from a few shillings to a few pounds. The charming glaze and shapes of the vases discovered at Nola have often obtained good prices from amateurs. Those of Greece Proper have also fetched higher prices than those of Italy, on account of the interest attached to the place of their discovery.[80] * * * * *