The _rose Pompadour_, or _rose du Barri_, has, within the last twenty years, become most in vogue, so that at the Bernal sale, in 1856, a pair of vases of this color, painted with groups of Cupids in medallions, was purchased by the Marquis of Bath at eighteen hundred and fifty guineas. An English collector, of moderate views, told me he proposed to purchase a pair of vases of this color, some twelve inches high, at a sale at Christie's, some five years since, if he could do so for, say, one hundred pounds sterling. The first bid was one thousand pounds, and they were knocked down at sixteen hundred and fifty guineas. The variety and splendor of these _vases de luxe_ are great. They are to be seen in most of the collections of Europe, and, to some extent, in America; but their great cost, and the fact that they are so rarely offered for sale here, make them quite uncommon in the United States. Visitors to Europe should see those in the Kensington Museum, and in private galleries; such as that of M. Rothschild, whose collection is worth _millions_. [Illustration: FIG. 137.--_Sèvres._] It is a singular thing that during that fearful tempest known as the French Revolution, when almost everything which had a suspicion of royalty or luxury was swept away, the works at Sèvres were not destroyed, but were carefully guarded and supported by the republican Directory. Besides these "articles of luxury," the Sèvres works have always made a large number of services for household use, which, however, must always be costly. Some of these are in this country; also a good many single pieces, particularly from the collections of Louis Philippe, which were large, and which were scattered at the time of the Revolution of 1848. Quite a goodly number were in the sale of Mr. Lyons's collection, in 1876. Some of these dinner-services were of course very elaborate and some intended for royal houses were finished in the rich and heavy colors, such as the _bleu de roi_, which for myself I would never desire; but most of them were decorated with edges of very rich gold, and bands or bouquets of flowers painted on the white. [Illustration: FIG. 138.--_Sèvres, White and Gold._] In Fig. 137 we present some pieces from a handsome service belonging to W. C. Prime, Esq., of New York. The forms as well as the decoration are perfect; the dark bands are a rich yellow, and the edges are finished with heavy gold leafage and lines. This is a large and complete set. The single plate shown in the picture, containing the portrait of Montaigne, of course does not belong to the service. It is an admirable piece of the miniature work done at Sèvres, and must find its place as a picture does on the walls of the house. Plates, however, as valuable as this should have the protection of a frame.