In Fig. 136 we have engraved a vase of the time of Louis XVI., which indicates the improvements made at that time, both in form and decoration. It approaches the classic forms of Greece, and is a step away from that excessive and meretricious decoration which marked the times of Louis XIV. and XV. It was sold at the Bernal sale, and is thus described: "A magnificent centre vase and cover, _gros bleu_, with upright handles of foliage, a festoon of leaves, raised gilt, encircling the vase and falling over the handles, the lower part fluted with pendant lines of leaves; in the centre is a most exquisite painting of a peasant and two girls gathering cherries, a donkey with panniers filled with cherries at their side, a group of flowers on the reverse--on square plinth, eighteen inches high. Sold to the Marquis of Hertford for eight hundred and seventy-one pounds ten shillings sterling (four thousand three hundred and fifty-five dollars). [Illustration: FIG. 136.--_Sèvres Vase._] I have spoken of the many styles of painting applied at Sèvres, and also of the great carefulness and elaborateness of the modeling. Another skilled body of men was called upon to contribute toward the perfection at which they all aimed; these were the _chemists_. To devise, to combine, and to adapt many and more and more beautiful colors than any in use, which could be applied to porcelain and would stand supreme heat, required the aid of science. This the chemists gave; and the result has been such rich, such subtile, such brilliant colors as no other manufactory has reached. Some of these colors have become well and widely known under the following names: _Bleu de roi_, made from cobalt; a deep lapis lazuli, sometimes veined and sown with gold. _Gros bleu_, a deeper color of the same. _Bleu céleste_, a turquoise blue, from copper. _Rose Pompadour_, improperly called _Rose du Barri_ in England. _Violet pensée_, a rare and beautiful violet. _Jonquille_, a rich canary. _Vert pomme_, a delicious apple-green. _Vert pré_, a bright grass-green. _Rouge de fer_, a brilliant red. These are among the most famous colors used to cover the ground or body of the finest vases, the reserved spaces being filled with the rarest paintings. In addition to these perfect colors, gilding of the heaviest kind was used--often too freely. To glorify the work still more, what are termed _jewels_ were applied in rows, or singly, of many colors; but pearls and rubies were most in use.