Also 6 vasse, 7 vause, vaze. [a. F. vase (= It., Sp., Pg. vaso), ad. L. vās vessel: see VAS and VASA1.]
1731. Swift, Strephon & Chloe, 191 [rhyme face].
1822. Byron, Juan, VI. xcvii. [rhymes place, grace].
1847. Emerson, Poems, Wks. (Bohn), I. 425. Cut a bough from my parent stem, And dip it in thy porcelain vase [rhyme grace].
1857. Whittier, Skipper Ireson’s Ride, 26. Girls … such as chase Bacchus round some antique vase.
c. 1860. Lowell, Ambrose, x. The water unchanged, in every case, Shall put on the figure of the vase.
1. Arch. † a. = BELL sb.1 6 a. Obs.
1563. Shute, Archit., D iiij. The Abacus, the which lieth on the vasse or basket, that was founde on the maydens tombe in Corinthe.
1726. Leoni, trans. Alberti’s Archit., II. 33/2. The bell or vase, the breadth of which at the bottom must be … that of the top of the Shaft…, and the breadth of the top of the vase must be equal to … the bottom of the shaft.
1753. Chambers’ Cycl., Suppl., s.v. Bell, In this sense, bell is the same with what is otherwise called vase and tambour.
b. An ornament having the form of a vase (see sense 2).
1706. Phillips (ed. Kersey), Vase,… in Architecture, an Ornament above the Cornice.
1731. Bailey (vol. II.), Vases … are ornaments placed on cornices, socles, or pedestals, representing such vessels as the antients used in sacrifices, as incense-pots, &c., often inriched with Basso Relievo’s.
2. A vessel, usually of an ornamental character, commonly of a circular section and made either of earthenware or metal, but varying greatly in actual form and use.
1629. in A. Michaelis, Anc. Marb. Gt. Brit. (1882), 205. I desire you woulde presently … knowe what Sir Tho. Roe hath brought of antiquities, Goddes, vases, inscriptions, medalles, or such like.
1670. G. H., Hist. Cardinals, II. II. 288. The Chamberlain … puts the names of all the Cardinals … into a Vaze.
1703. Pope, Thebais, 207. No chargers then were wrought in burnish’d gold, Nor silver vases took the forming mold.
1781. Gibbon, Decl. & F., xxxi. (1787), III. 240. Many a vase, in the division of the spoil, was shivered into fragments by the stroke of a battle-axe.
1832. W. Irving, Alhambra, I. 92. A tribute of fresh-culled flowers, which are afterwards arranged in vases.
1854. Poultry Chron., II. 192. Seven Silver Vases, of the value of Six Guineas each, will also be awarded, instead of money prizes.
1898. G. B. Shaw, You never can tell, Plays II. 274. The vases on pillar pedestals of veined marble with bases of black polished wood.
fig. 1850. Tennyson, In Mem., iv. Break, thou deep vase of chilling tears, That grief hath shaken into frost!
b. (See quot.) rare–0.
1728. Chambers, Cycl., s.v., Goldsmiths, Pewterers, &c. also use Vase for the middle of a Church Candlestick; which is usually of a roundish Figure, bordering somewhat on that of a Vase. [Hence in Bailey.]
c. A calyx or other growth resembling a vase.
1728. Chambers, Cycl., Vase is also sometimes used among Florists, for what they otherwise call the Calyx. [Hence in Bailey, etc.]
a. 1811. Leyden, On Spring, Remains (1819), 258. The tulip’s vase with dew-pearl sheen And icy crystal gleams afar.
1885. C. F. Holder, Marvels Anim. Life, 15. Graceful stalked vases of the Campanularia appear.
3. attrib. and Comb. (in sense 2), as vase-carriage, -handle, -like adj., -maker, -painter, -painting, -shaped adj., -work.
1832. Lindley, Introd. Bot., 380. Vase-shaped,… formed like a flower-pot.
1840. Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl., III. 96/2. The two winged boys who dip into a vase-like fountain.
1843. Penny Cycl., XXVI. 149/2. The numerous names of vase painters. Ibid. The most antient style of vase painting.
1865. Lubbock, Preh. Times, 48. Two curious vase-carriages, one found in Sweden and the other in Mecklenburg.
1870. G. J. Chester, in Recov. Jerus. (1871), 473. Six vase-handles, found … on a bed of rich earth.
1893. Westm. Gaz., 25 Feb., 5/3. The best vase-work in the period 570 to 470 B. C.
1894. S. Smiles, J. Wedgwood, xiv. 157. Where, amongst our potters, could I get a complete Vase-maker?
Hence Vaseful, Vaselet.
1834. Dublin Univ. Mag., III. March, 306.
| Though the days that we live in are barren | |
| Of fun and of jollity, yet | |
| Will we quaff to thy memory, Haroun! | |
| A vasefull of perfumed sherbet. |
1856. R. F. Burton, Pilgr. El-Medinah, III. 202. A present to the Sakkas, or carriers,… who distributed a large earthen vaseful in my name to poor pilgrims.
1889. M. M. Macmillan, Lett. (1893), 250. I will present the vaselet to the British Museum.
1894. Westm. Gaz., 14 June, 3/3. A vaseful of Iceland poppies.
