When the lid was raised the party gathered round saw two skeletons, man and a woman. Between them rested the beautiful blue vase with the white cameos, which we now know as the Portland Vase.
As the antiquarians held the ornament up to the light some of them must have wondered about the man and woman who ordered that it should be laid with them in death What happy scenes in their life may have been associated with the vase, what human jo; sions, sorrows, perhaps terrors, had been felt around its pedestal, for they, were quick to notice that the male skeleton bore signs of violence. The sunlight seemed to touch with life the vase from the tomb, making it a living link with the long buried centuries.
The antiquaries were puzzled about the identity of the owners. Eventually, various signs made them a nounce that the skeletons were those of Emperor Alexender Severus, who was assassinated in 235 AD., and his mother.
The vase stood in the museum at the Barberini Palace until, in 1770, Sir William Hamilton, British Ambassador in Naples, and one of England's leading antiquer bought it. Sir William is better membered as the husband in later lifo of Emma, Lady Hamilton, whose sensational affair with Nelson brought her notoriety.
Own The ornament was one of the proudest possessions of Sir William, and the glamorous Emma must often have regarded it in passing with admiration, even if the relics of antiquity aroused little sympathy in her vital personality When he died Sir William left the vase to one of his favourites, the Duchess of Portland. She, for some reason, kept her ownership of it a close secret, not even showing it to her family.
As a result of her secretiveness the vase, with other belongings, was put up for auction on her death in 1815 as a thing of no great value. It was recognized as the missing Barbering Vase and caused quite a sensation among collectors. Whispers about the discovery among the Portland objects sent for auction reached the Duke of Portland, the duchess's son. He hurried to the auction rooms, determined that the vase must be kept in the family in face of all the collectors in the world. It cost the duke one thousand guineas to keep this unique treasure in the family, à far larger amount for a collector to pay for an antique than it would be thought today.
Having recovered the Barberini Vase, the Duke of Portland lent it to the newly opened British Museum. He was made an hon Fellow of the Royal Society,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.