Objects

Vetter Mystery Ship

The Mystery Ship was a limited edition motorcycle created by Craig Vetter and released in 1980. Only 10 were built, of which seven were sold. It was based on a Kawasaki KZ1000 motor and modified chassis, with aftermarket magnesium racing wheels, Yoshimura exhaust, and custom Vetter-designed fairing. Frame modifications took two days labor per vehicle. The Mystery Ship influenced the fully faired look of modern sport bikes. Honda's technological tour de force 1981 CX500 Turbo was the bike that followed most closely in its wake. Not far behind were the turbo bikes of Yamaha, Suzuki, and Kawasaki--all of which were attempts to merge style and rider protection with performance. And this trend, when crossed with the full-fairing style of GP bikes, gave us the look of today's sport bikes.

Woodlawn Vase

The Woodlawn Vase is an American trophy given annually to the winning owner of the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore. For many years the trophy was given to the winning owner to keep for one year until the next running of the race. In 1917, the Woodlawn Vase was first awarded to the Preakness winner. In 1953 the winning owner was no longer allowed to keep it. In 1983 the trophy's silver design was appraised by Tiffany and Company of New York (the original creator in 1860) as priceless but a figure of $1,000,000 was established for insurance purposes. The value is now believed to be worth in excess of $4,000,000.

Henri Vever

Henri Vever was one of the most preeminent European jewelers of the early 20th century. Henri was also a collector of a broad range of fine art, including prints, paintings, and books of both European and Asian origin. At the peak of World War I, however, Vever was forced to dispose of the bulk of his collection, selling some 7996 prints to the Japanese industrial mogul Matsukata Kōjirō, who purchased them sight-unseen based on the collection's reputation.

America’s Cup trophy

The America’s Cup is a trophy awarded to the winner of the America's Cup sailing regatta match, and the oldest active trophy in international sport.

Edward VII sex chair

This chair allowed the distinctly unathletic Edward VII to have his way with two women simultaneously, all with the minimum of effort.

Klerksdorp sphere

Klerksdorp spheres are small objects, often spherical to disc-shaped, that have been collected by miners and rockhounds from 3-billion-year-old pyrophyllite deposits. Geologists agree that the Klerksdorp spheres originated as concretions, which formed in volcanic sediments, ash, or both, after they accumulated 3 billion years ago.

Tordenskjold

Tordenskjold is a Danish brand of matches.

Buckypaper

Buckypaper is a thin sheet made from an aggregate of carbon nanotubes. The nanotubes are approximately 50,000 times thinner than a human hair.

Tutankhamun Ale

The recipe of this brew is prepared according to the recipe and brewing method discovered by a team of University of Cambridge archaeologists/Egyptologists in the Queen Nefertiti’s Temple of the Sun in Egypt. The brewery found in the corner of the said temple is believed to have been built by King Akhenaton who is King Tutankhamen’s father.

Claude glass

A Claude glass is a small mirror, slightly convex in shape, with its surface tinted a dark colour. Bound up like a pocket-book or in a carrying case, black mirrors were used by artists, travellers and connoisseurs of landscape and landscape painting. Black mirrors have the effect of abstracting the subject reflected in it from its surroundings, reducing and simplifying the colour and tonal range of scenes and scenery to give them a painterly quality.

Opus

Encyclopædia of the sublime