20 Artifacts That Break Historical Patterns (21 photos)

Museum halls often seem like a realm of boredom and dusty "Do Not Touch" signs. But take a closer look, and the familiar story turns into a collection of absurd, touching, or downright shocking mysteries.





Behind glass display cases lie things that don't fit into textbooks. Take medieval France, for example, where communion was celebrated with not just a chalice, but an elegant vessel shaped like a dove, seemingly frozen in flight. And here's the 19th-century United States: among the personal belongings of Mary Todd Lincoln, the president's wife, a coffee service was discovered that contemporaries dubbed the "Chicken Leg" because of its bizarre shape. Or the shoes of Manchu aristocrats, whose incredibly high platforms were not just a fashion statement but a status symbol. These 20 exhibits prove that past generations knew how to surprise.

1. A 1935 photograph depicting a large mask on a pyramidal structure in the ancient Mayan city of Piedras Negras in Guatemala.



2. A ritual bell and a vajra scepter. Tibet, 15th century





3. Ivory sculpture of a horse in a cage, made by Filippo Planzone in 1624



Currently housed in the Silver Museum of the Palazzo Pitti in Florence, Italy.

4. Bronze wine vessel with animal motifs. China, 12th-11th centuries BC.



5. Eucharistic dove with hinged lid. Limoges, France, ca. 1215-1235.



Champlevé enamel, gilt, and engraved copper. Collection of the Loeb Art Center, Vassar College.

6. A fragment of a bronze dagger found in the early 1900s in Dobrcza, Poland. Between 2400 and 1500 BCE.



Property of the Scientific Society in Toruń, Toruń County Museum.

7. A jug mounted in gilded silver and decorated with mother-of-pearl, rubies, and turquoise. Circa 1590 CE.



Currently housed in the Silver Museum in the Palazzo Pitti in Florence, Italy.

8. Gold pendant in the shape of a flying fish, San Agustin culture, 1-900 AD.



Currently housed in the Gold Museum in Bogotá, Colombia.

9. Jade drinking horn with a makara motif - a water "chimera." China, Tang Dynasty, 750 AD



10. French reliquary, 18th century



11. Blue bowl with fish. Markazi, Iran, 14th century



12. Five feather capes presented by Hawaiian King Kamehameha II and Queen Kamamalu to King George IV during their visit to London in 1824



Currently housed in the British Museum.

13. Cloisonné enamel crane candlesticks. China, 18th century



14. A perfume house established in India, which was gifted to President Ulysses S. Grant by the Maharaja of Travancore circa 1877.



Made of silver, it was intended to store aromatic oils or perfumes.

15. Mary Todd Lincoln's "Chicken Leg" coffee service. On display at the Smithsonian Institution



16. Sioux Indian feather headdress with beaded band, 1850-1900.



17. Moai statue known as Ahu Huri A Urenga, Easter Island (Rapa Nui), 250-1500 AD



This moai is unique in that it has four arms and is located inland, not on the coast.

18. Terracotta rattle in the shape of a pig or boar. From Cyprus, 300-50 BC, now housed in the British Museum.



19. High Manchu women's shoes. China, 1800-1850.



20. Conquistador clothing found in Peru, made of wool, cotton, and linen. 1560-1580.



Kept in the Bavarian Arms Museum in Germany.