The story of their formation is interesting, that of one applying to both. The body was modelled by M. Renard, chief modeller at Sèvres. He worked incessantly on the inside for thirty-four hours without resting more than a few minutes at a time, in order that his work might be finished before the clay lost any of its plasticity by the evaporation of the moisture. When this operation was completed the body was allowed to dry for fifteen days. A kiln was then built round it, its great size--the vases are twelve feet high, and the largest ever made in Europe--rendering removal impossible. It was fired for eight days at a low temperature, and then for three days at a high degree of heat, and the result of the stupendous work was in every way successful. The furnace required eight days to cool. If anything more is needed to enable us to estimate the immense labor involved in such a work, it may be summed up in this, that these vases demanded thirteen months’ work of some of the ablest artists and potters of France. It is difficult to criticise them apart from the sentiment they embody, and which invests them with a never-fading interest. It was, however, a touch of genius to get away from immediate usage to a style of ornamentation with which the artists of Magna Græcia and Apulia embellished their vases. It is the style best suited to their enormous size. The enamel is applied only to the ornamentation, the body, busts, and statuettes being all left unglazed and showing the natural color of the clay. Every detail is made expressive, while the strictest simplicity is retained. The size of the work forbade minute ornamentation of a symbolical character, and there is thus a harmony between the entire work and the details. The colors are brilliant, and the general effect, though sombre, is imposing and fine. They will be viewed hereafter with increasing interest, as marking the revival of an old complimentary usage under particularly gratifying conditions; and the grandeur and beauty of the art they represent is not likely to be forgotten in the contemplation of the sentiment they express.