Depending on the door you enter, this may be the first thing you see. I actually had to wander around to find it but did. This is one the original Easter Island moai. It was obtained by the Smithsonian Institue in 1886. There are still around 1,000 moai on Easter Island although many of them were toppled in the 17th century during social disturbances. (There is a giant elephant in the rotunda at the other entrance).
I have to say that of all the Smithsonian museums to visit, the Natural History Museum was probably the one I was looking forward to the least. Don’t get me wrong, I was still excited to go but maybe not as much as other museums. Mainly this is because I have already been to 2 natural history museums in the last year and figured this one would be pretty similar. It certain cases I have to say I was correct but in other ways I was wrong. I very quickly bypassed all the stuffed animals and quickly moved to the Janet Anneberg Hooker Hall of Geology, Gems and Minerals (yeah I know). Three reasons why I headed here first: Reason #1: this is the current home of the Hope Diamond (I will talk all about it in a totally separate post….and yes there will be pictures), Reason #2: this is the current home of the Harry Winston Gallery (or as I like to call it, “Men don’t bring your ladies here because there are some big ass diamonds and gems in this place”), Reason #3: the other museums really did not have anything like this.
This is the Mackay Emerald and diamond necklace designed by Cartier. It is 168 carats. This was donated to the collection by Anna Case Mackay who received the necklace as a wedding gift from her husband, Clarance Mackay, in 1931. Anna was a prima dona at the New York Metropolitan Opera from 1909 to 1920.
This is the Marie Louise Diadem. It was a wedding gift from Napoleon I to his second wife, Empress Marie Louise. It contains over 1,000 diamonds totaling over 700 carats. It originally contained 79 emeralds but after the fall of Napoleon, Marie Louise fled to Vienna and the diadem was left to an Aunt. It was eventually sold in 1953,the emeralds were removed in 1956 and sold as individual pieces as emeralds "from the historic Napoleon tiara". The emeralds were replaced with tourquiose stones before it was donated to the Smithsonian.
Heading into the Hall of Geology took me back to my first year at the University of Calgary and my 2 geology courses. It also made me realize that I have retained NOTHING from those classes (that was money well spent). Good thing I don’t take care of rocks and minerals. Things were displayed in a very different way than I thought I would see. It was more like an art museum than anything. I guess it is true what they say, sometimes the most beautiful things are created by nature.
This is copper from the Keweenaw Peninsula in Michigan
This is gypsum from Santa Eulalia, Chihuahua Mexico
This is Crocoite from the Red Lead mine in Dundas, Tasmania Australia. The orange colour comes from chromium.
This one is calcite stalactites formed from tiny calcite crystals that grew as water containing dissolved minerals dripped from the roof of a cave.
No trip to a Natural history museum is complete without a visit to Egypt. I love looking at all the artefacts and of course the mummies.
This is Minister Cox (not his real name but named after the man who donated him to the museum). He died over 2,200 years ago.
Me with Minister Cox
A mummy mask or Mask for the Dead. It is from the 18th dynasty
There is currently a temporary exhibit called Discovering Rastafari which was very interesting. Of course when I am talking about Rastafari I am talking about the reggae playing, dreadlock wearing, “herb” smoking movement most often associated with Jamaica. The Rastafarian movement is so much more that though (seriously it is very interesting, I suggest doing some extra reading about it). It is religious movement (although most Rastas say it is not a religion but a way of life) that emerged in Jamaica in the early 1930’s. The smoking of Ganja or cannabis or the “herb” is a spiritual experience to Rastafarians. It is often accompanied by bible study. Rastafarians feel the smoking of the herb helps them reach a higher level of enlightenment. They feel that Africa, (Ethiopia to be exact) is the true home of black people. Repatriation which is the desire to return to Africa after 400 years of slavery, is central to Rastafari doctrine all though not all Rastas feel the return needs to be physical. Anyway, this is really just the tip of the Rastafarian iceburg. Just fabulously interesting. I totally recommend that everyone google it and read all about it.
The most interesting exhibit I saw at the museum that day though…..the homeless man sleeping on the floor. Not sure how long he had been there all I know is that a security guard did come around and woke him up, told him he couldn’t lay there and then walked away. The man picked up his stuff and promptly…....moved to another location, sat back down and continued his nap. He probably didn’t get kicked out until the museum closed. Hopefully by then he had somewhere else to go.
Julie
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