A 5th century BCE ancient Greek terracotta figurine of an actor as a donkey. Now housed at the Staatliche Antikensammlungen in Munich, Germany [1888x2380]

A Moche ceramic stirrup bottle in the form of an ocelot. From Peru, 100-800 CE, now housed at the BIZEN Museum of Latin American Art in Japan [1536x2048]

A pair of daggers with impala antler hilts, India, 19th century CE [1113x1920]

A polychrome glass cup from El-Amarna in Egypt, New Kingdom, 18th dynasty, 1370–1335 BCE [476x670]

The evolution of The Great Wave off Kanagawa: the 4 versions that Hokusai painted over nearly 40 Years. From top to bottom: the 1st when he was 33 in 1792, the 2nd when he was 44 in 1803, the 3rd when he was 46 in 1805, and finally the 4th and the most famous when he was 72 in 1831 [736x1966]

The first recorded chemists were 2 women named Tapputi and (—)-ninu (the first part of her name has been lost). This 3200-year-old clay tablet, from Iraq, describes them as perfume-makers from Assur, one of the cities in ancient Mesopotamia. Vorderasiatisches Museum, Berlin [579x1024]

Centuries ago people of the Qeshm Island, in Iran, dug 366 wells in the stones, equal to the number of days in a leap year, to gather clean water from rainfall. They are called Tallaght wells. Today only about 60 of them are left and half of this number is usable for extracting water [799x1098]

A dagger (Tantō) made by Miyata Nobukiyo (1817–1884 CE). From Japan, now housed at the Metropolitan Museum [1359x3814]

A mummified female head with gilded skin and a wig. From Egypt, Late Period (664-332 BCE), now housed at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, England [828x954]

The epitaph of Licinia Eucharis, an ancient Roman stage actress who died at the age of 14. She is one of the few ancient actresses known to have achieved fame and respect in her profession during the Roman Republic. The 1st century BCE epitaph on her tomb was written by her father [1200x900]

The foundation charter of Bordesley Abbey by Empress Matilda, dated to 1141-1142 CE. The charter is affixed with Matilda's seal enclosed in its own beautiful silk seal bag [2085x3065]

A 1793 End of Pain satirical token. This Conder token depicts Thomas Paine being hanged for his work and ideas expressed in his "The Rights of Man". On the obverse we see Paine being hanged and an inscription END OF PAIN, a pun on his name [2000x4000]

The state bed of Valtesse de la Bigne, 1875 CE. Although born to a working-class family in Paris, she quickly launched herself as a high-class courtesan, and had a succession of rich lovers, such as Prince de Sagan, whom she bankrupted by having him build her a hôtel particulier in Paris [587x882]

Illustrations from a 16th-century manuscript detailing the phenomenon of Nuremberg's Schembart Carnival, (literally "bearded-mask" carnival). Beginning in 1449, the event was popular throughout the 15th century but was ended in 1539 due to the complaints of a preacher named Osiander [2871x2973]

The Torslunda plaques, discovered in 1870 in the Torslunda parish on the Swedish island Öland, are bronze matrices intended to produce thin bronze plates intended to adorn rich helmets of the sort found at Vendel, Valsgärde, and Sutton Hoo. 6th–8th century CE, Swedish History Museum [1024x1024]

Memorial to Maria Magdalena Langhans, who died giving birth to a still born child at the age of 28. This is a terracotta copy of the gravestone, which is now located in the parish church of Hindelbank near Berne, Switzerland. 1775 CE, Historische Museum Basel [1424x2000]

"The world's first fashion book", the Trachtenbuch is a book cataloguing the clothing that Matthäus Schwarz wore between 1520-1560. Schwarz was fascinated by clothing, spent a large part of his income on clothes, and documented his appearance and outfits throughout his adult life [3972x2985]

In this clever marginal illustration, the medieval artist has created the illusion of a piece of rope driven through the page and attached on the other side, to support an added line of text. Harley MS 612, f. 232r-v, mid-15th century CE [1199x524]

A letter from Joan of Arc to the citizens of Riom, featuring the earliest surviving example of her signature. Written during the height of Joan’s military campaign to liberate France from English rule, it requests military aid from the citizens of Riom, urging them to join her cause [1700x781]

The skull of a Barbary lion found under the Tower of London, believed to be that of the same lion that accompanied Margaret of Anjou, as she traveled to England to marry the king Henry VI in 1444 CE [977x1303]

The Mortuary Roll of Lucy of Hedingham, 1230. The roll begins with a depiction of Lucy’s funeral and continues on with the original letter written by her successor, Agnes, praising her and grieving her passing, followed by messages from 122 religious houses in England, in memory of Lucy [977x1303]

Letter from Christopher Columbus to Luis de Santángel, Treasurer of Aragon who funded much of his voyage, in which he provides a brief account of the lands and peoples that he met, and urges the Catholic monarchs to sponsor a 2nd larger expedition, promising to bring back immense riches [2000x2573]

In 1650 CE, the Chinese Empress Dowager Wang sent a written letter to Pope Innocent X. In it she reported that impressed by the work of the Jesuits, she had converted to Catholicism, and requested the Pope to send more missionaries to her kingdom. Vatican Apostolic Archives [1080x893]

Decet Romanum Pontificem is the papal bull that excommunicated the German theologian Martin Luther. It was issued in 1521 by Pope Leo X to effect the excommunication threatened in his earlier papal bull, Exsurge Domine, for Luther had failed to recant. Vatican Apostolic Archives [1920x1252]

The letter of Vaz de Caminha to Manuel I of Portugal, is the first ever literary description of Brazil. It includes detailed descriptions of the Tupi indigenous peoples, whom Vaz describes as innocent, simple and free from shame or modesty, attributes he sees confirmed in their nakedness [1160x1640]