VASE IN SILVER.

“ On the neck of the Vase , in low relief, are two figures, representing Time and Fate; the formerwith his scythe, the latter grasping serpents. Among the representations in low relief may be recognisedSatyrs and Bacchanals in bowers of vine; Neptune in his chariot, drawn by sea-horses, hurling thunder-boltsat the giants, who are casting rocks at him; flies and grotesque insects writhing in a spider’s web, alludingto the fate of Arachne . Below one of the handles is Pan; beneath the other a skeleton. Crocodiles, wingedmonsters, fiery dragons, and other fabulous monsters of sea and land, wage war with one another.”

It is to be regretted that Messrs. Hunt and Roskell have not appended to their description some noticeof the Artist by whom this most noble piece of work has been designed and executed—more particularly since,if w r e are rightly informed, it is the production of one whose name among cunning artificers has passed into aproverb. To say that a man can chase metal-work like Vechte, would be to place him at once upon a footingwith Cellini, Caradosso, Van Vianen , Wagner, Mertins, Ballin, Briot, and Dassier—so many of the finest qualitiesof these masters does Vechte unite in his own person. Who that examined the extraordinary, unfinished shieldin silver and iron, truly “a specimen of art and embossing,” dedicated to Shakspeare, Milton, and Newton,could fail to recognise in that the mind and handicraft of the most accomplished artist ?

It is infinitely to the credit of Messrs. Hunt and Roskell, that they are devoting their capital andenergies to securing the execution of what must always be regarded as one of the most exquisite specimens ofthe silversmith’s art ever produced; and it is to be equally regretted, that neither the Vase we engrave, theShield we mention, nor some other grand work of a similar high class, were included in the liberal purchasesmade by the princely Goldsmiths’ Company.

As we shall have occasion, in the course of this work, to notice other objects, over the production ofwhich the genius of Vechte has presided, we shall hope to be enabled to afford some information respectingthe life and principal works of this celebrated artist.