![This faded scrap of paper is the British Guiana One-Cent Magenta from 1856. Only one exists in the world, and it sold for $9.4 million, making it one of the most valuable objects per gram ever sold at auction. [1200x900]](https://preview.redd.it/woejvawr2w3h1.jpeg?auto=webp&s=7d806e77bb81b9b5da96d3192d535874af238519)
The Marlborough Antinous - a Roman black chalcedony intaglio portrait created circa AD 130–138, depicting Antinous, Emperor Hadrian's favourite. Carved from deep black chalcedony and mounted in a modern gold setting, it was formerly part of the Giorgio Sangiorgi Collection before being acquired by the J. Paul Getty Museum.
The cup was made for the French royal family at the end of the 14th century, and later belonged to several English monarchs before spending nearly 300 years in Spain. It has been in the British Museum since 1892. Much the most prominent decoration on the cup is the cycle of scenes from the life of Saint Agnes.
This cup was explicitly mentioned in the 1901 short story A Jubilee Present by E. W. Hornung, where A. J. Raffles, a gentleman thief steals it, keeps it for a while and then sends it to Queen Victoria as an anonymous Jubilee present.
Name: Jade Pig-Dragon
Category: Jade Ware
Period: Late Hongshan Culture (3500–3000 BC)
Dimensions: Length: 7.8 cm | Width: 5.6 cm | Thickness: 2.1–2.6 cm
Description
Made of pale yellowish-green jade, this piece features a larger, more mature sculpted animal embryo form. Proportionally, the animal head end is enlarged, featuring upright prominent ears and bulging eyes encircled by curved lines. The bridge of the nose and the area beneath the nostrils are carved in relief with dense wrinkles.
A perforation is drilled on the back for suspension and wearing; when worn, the opening points roughly toward the 20 or 40-minute position on a clock face.
While archaeologists generally refer to this type of jade artifact as a "pig-dragon," some scholars suggest it may represent an animal embryo of a tiger.
This particular pig-dragon is relatively large in size. When viewed from the back, a pair of large ears and a wider neck are visible, which are characteristic features of pig-dragons from the mature period.
Warring States · Crystal Cup
Warring States period (475–221 BC)
Height 15.4 cm, rim diameter 7.6 cm, base diameter 5.2 cm
Excavated in 1990 at Shitang, Banshan, Hangzhou
To verify its authenticity, the crystal cup was sent to Beijing for appraisal. Combined with carbon-14 and thermoluminescence dating, archaeologists collected charcoal samples left behind from the tomb ruins where the crystal cup was buried.