18th-Century Chinese Vase Accidentally Discovered

 

The magnificent imperial vase which languished for years in a kitchen. (Photo: Dreweatts)

Who doesn't dream about stumbling on a trove of fabulous, valuable artwork? For some people, the discovery of a lifetime is an ancient Roman bust waiting on a Goodwill shelf or a Ming Dynasty bowl at a yard sale. For one family in the UK, their treasured possession turned out to have been sitting in their kitchen for years. Purchased by a surgeon and passed down to his son, the vase turned out to be a Chinese imperial work of art from the era of the famed Qianlong Emperor.

The provenance of the vase is unknown, so how and when it traveled from China to the UK is a mystery possibly shrouding the imperialistic looting. What is known is that a surgeon in the UK purchased the vase for a few hundred pounds in the 1980s. Eventually, it passed to his son. One of the son's friends noticed the two-foot-tall blue and gold bulbous vase sitting in his friend's kitchen. The friend is an antiques specialist and alerted the son of his suspicion that the vase was in fact a valuable artifact.

Crafted of porcelain, the vase is glazed in “sacrificial blue,” a name that hearkens to the blue vases used in sacrifices. It is decorated with clouds, palms, and cranes in silver and gilt (gold). These are symbols from Taoism (or Daoism), the philosophy and religion popular in 18th-century China. The Qianlong Emperor ruled from 1735 to 1796. A member of the powerful Qing Dynasty of China, he is one of the longest-reigning rulers in history. On the base of the vase is a mark signifying its manufacture in the Qianlong period, the years of the Qianlong Emperor's reign. The vase was made for the emperor and likely kept in an imperial palace until it was given away (or stolen).

The vase is a shocking find, but a delight for an auction house. The vase went to auction through Dreweatts where it fetched $1.8 million at auction, well over the $186,000 estimate. The house reported “very strong interest” from bidders in China, Hong Kong, the U.S., and the UK, demonstrating “the demand for the very finest porcelain.” A technical wonder of art and craftsmanship, the vase is a historic, royal piece despite its humble recent location in a kitchen.

A UK man discovered the vase in his kitchen was actually a valuable Qianlong-era Chinese antique.

Detail of a crane in gold. (Photo: Dreweatts)

The piece was made for the 18th-century Qianlong Emperor, although it is unknown how it came to the UK.

The six-character mark of the Qianlong period on the base of the vase. (Photo: Dreweatts)

The vase fetched $1.8 million at auction.

The Qianlong Emperor, who lived from 1711-99 (r. 1735-96), painted by Giuseppe Castiglione. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons, Public domain)

This is one of several stories of treasures discovered in unexpected places.

Butterfly Populations Are Showing Recovery After a Winter in Mexico

Photo: Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Monarch butterflies are famous for their striking orange and black wings. These beautiful, elegant insects are also renowned for their impressive migratory regimen. Wintering in Mexico, they travel as far north as Southern Canada in the spring. However, as with many other species, the delicate natural rhythms of their migration are threatened by global warming and habitat loss. Thankfully, during the winter of 2021 to 2022, 35% more butterflies congregated in their winter home than in the past year—suggesting a possible path of resilience for the species.

Each October and November, thousands of monarch butterflies flock to the sheltered, forested mountains west of Mexico City. Typically, they return to northern, cooler climes in March. However, in the 2020 to 2021 season, the butterflies fled in February, suggesting climate change may be altering their pattern due to climate change. Yet in the spring of 2022, the butterflies lingered until April. It is unclear exactly why, but it suggests the species is adapting to a rapidly changing world.

The butterflies rely on trees when in their Mexican home. Logging, fires, drought, and plant disease are exacerbating deforestation. While logging activity rose this past year, other factors caused less damage and resulted in less total loss of flora. Declining milkweed in the United States, which monarch caterpillars eat, has also affected their numbers. Pesticides and clearing wooded areas endanger this vital plant. Activists encourage Americans to plant milkweed to combat habitat loss, but those who live in Mexico should not. The plant might erroneously encourage the insects to linger, interfering with their natural rhythm.

While the butterflies are still at the mercy of climate change, their recently rebounding numbers in Mexico suggest they may be able to adapt their calendar to a changing climate. This past winter, 160,000 tourists flocked to see the magnificent winged creatures gathered in the trees of the butterfly reserves. The butterflies may be adapting—but we humans have to adapt too. Fighting climate change will only make survival easier and surer for this incredible species.

This past winter, more monarch butterflies than the year before flocked to their winter home in Mexico.

Photo: NATICASTILLOG/Depositphotos

Amazing NASA Sun Mission - Solar Eclipse From Space

NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory observed a solar eclipse on June 29, 2022. (Photo: NASA/SDO/AIA/LMSAL)

Human eyes should not gaze directly at the Sun on any regular day, let alone during a solar eclipse. However, NASA's hyper-modern technology has no such limitations. Their Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) tracks, photographs, and studies the Sun from space. This high-tech observation center captured stunning images of a solar eclipse on June 29, 2022—the fiery beauty is a view unmatched by any on Earth.

The eclipse occurred on Wednesday, June 29, 2022. SDO is a NASA mission to document and explore both space and Sun. SDO launched in February 2010 as a solar spacecraft under the partnership of NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are of particular interest to the mission. CMEs—expulsions of plasma and magnetic field from the Sun—are a strange and confusing phenomenon which can disrupt power or GPS signals here on Earth. 

With its high-powered imaging mechanisms, SDO captured the moon passing between it and the Sun. NASA has not yet officially spoken on the celestial event, but space enthusiasts note that the Moon's ridges were illuminated by the Sun behind it, including the Leibnitz and Doerfel mountain ranges. The entire phenomenon passed by in about 25 minutes. The Moon blocked about 67% of the Sun's flaming surface. This may also be the closest picture of the Sun's surface many people have seen. While images such as these may help scientists observe the Sun and learn more about its magnetic properties, they also can help them learn about the optics of the telescope itself. For the rest of us, these images are one more chance to marvel at the magnificence of our solar system.

NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) tracks, photographs, and studies the Sun from space.D

NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory observed a solar eclipse on June 29, 2022. (Photo: NASA/SDO/AIA/LMSAL)

This high-tech observation center captured stunning images of a solar eclipse on June 29, 2022—the fiery beauty is a view unmatched by any on Earth.

NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory observed a solar eclipse on June 29, 2022. (Photo: NASA/SDO/AIA/LMSAL)AD

NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory observed a solar eclipse on June 29, 2022. (Photo: NASA/SDO/AIA/LMSAL)