2-970-101 - /Heritage Images

Sevres Vase presented to H.R.H. Prince Albert by His Imperial Majesty the Emperor of the French, 1856. Porcelain vase '...designed to commemorate the Great Exhibition in Hyde-park, in 1851 [and as] testimony of the friendship between England and France...It is of spherical form, of pure Grecian character. The colour of the ground is deep amaranth, relieved with light and graceful ornaments in gold. In the centre are painted emblematical figures of the principal nations of the world submitting the produce of human intelligence to three female genii seated upon a throne, allegorical of Justice, Industry, and Equity. A laurel crown surmounts the upper part of the Vase, and around the mouth is a smaller crown or wreath, with portrait figures of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, and an inscription in gold letters'. From "Illustrated London News", 1856.