Our main goal today was the Harvard Peabody Museum, so that we could complete our follow-up of items brought back by the Lewis & Clark Corps of Discovery Expedition. I was unfortunately misinformed that these items would be in the museum's Hall of the North American Indian.
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| Harvard Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology (est 1866, built 1877, by Robert H Slack in Italian Renaissance style); apparently expansions in 1888 and 1913 now house what is called the Harvard Museum of Natural History (est 1998 as the public face of three research museums: the Museum of Comparative Zoology, the Harvard Mineralogical and Geological Museum, and the Harvard University Herbaria |
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| Monumental Stone Sphere (c 600 CE-1500 CE) is a hand-carved granodiorite ball, part of the famous and mysterious collection of spherical stones created by indigenous peoples of the Diquís culture in present Costa Rica |
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| Conical hat (18C) similar to the Lewis & Clark whaler hats |
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| Twined basket (mid 19C, Tlingit) is similar to the Lewis & Clark root-gathering basket or sally bag |
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| Bison hide (1864, Yankton, Sioux) used as a tipi liner (two sewn together) rather than a robe like that seen by Lewis & Clark, but both have painted scenes |
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| Strong bow and arrows (undated, Sioux), whereas Lewis & Clark received a bow case and quiver with 10 arrows |
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| Items belonging to Tatanka-Iyotanka/Sitting Bull (Hunkpapa Lakota) with metal arm band and cuff bracelet (19C), pipe or tobacco bag (c 1883), and ceremonial stone war club |
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| On the way, in Earth and Planetary Sciences: Kent with a 1,600-pound Brazilian amethyst geode |
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| Amazing glass models of plants, such as this Acer rubrum/ Red Maple in autumn and summer foliage, were made by Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka, a father and son team of Czech glass artists, who from 1886 through 1936, produced 4,300 glass models that represent 780 plant species; Rudolf continued after his father's death in 1895, creating models of microscopic spore-forming plants and fungi, as well as about 430 models of marine and terrestrial invertebrates |
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| Nepenthes sanguinea/Malayan Pitcher Plant |
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| Monarda didyma/Bee Balm |
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| Blaschka Lampworking Bench, using clear and colored glass, some copper wire, animal glue, watercolor, and oil-based paint |
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| An example of microscopic work, an 850x magnification of a cross-section of a Berberis vulgaris/Common Barberry leaf (magnified 2x below) showing cluster cups of fungi |
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| We were thrilled to learn the Melanerpes lewis/ Lewis's Woodpecker or Black Creeper was to be on exhibit, as it is a verified specimen found by Lewis in May 1806 and brought back from the Corps of Discovery Expedition |
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| George Washington's Pheasants: Chrysolophus pictus/ Golden Pheasants that originally came from the aviary of French King Louis XVI and were shipped to George Washington in 1786 by the Marquis de Lafayette; when the birds died, Washington gave them to Charles Willson Peale for his museum in Philadelphia |
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| Jewel-like Beetles and Weevils that starting in the 1800s would be made into jewelry for fashionable society |
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| Teleoceras fossiger/Teleoceras is an aquatic rhinoceros from the Miocene-age in North America, although it behaved more like a hippopotamus; found in Kansas |
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| Latimeria chalumnae/Coelacanth (caught 1965 near Comoro Islands north of Madagascar) was called a "living fossil" and was considered extinct until first found alive by man in 1938 off the coast of South Africa |
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| Tamiko with Kronosaurus queenslandicus/Kronosaurus from the Cretaceous-age |
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| Here is the Hippopotamus amphibious |
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| Felt like we were in the attic of the museum |
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| Clams Bianco with Wellfleet clams |
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| Burrata with Peaches, also Parma prosciutto |
Many heartfelt thanks to Keith and Joyce for hosting us for the night and mini-golf (but apologies for not realizing the exertion required for mini-golf!).
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