We went to an exhibit titled “Objects of Wonder: From the Collections of the National Museum of Natural History,” an interesting display of items that examines how scientists use the Smithsonian collections to enlighten and illuminate our understanding of nature and human culture. I took a few pictures, but most of it was more appropriate for viewing and reading about than photographing.

This isn’t the most spectacular capture, but the emerald certainly was. From what I can tell, it was mined in Colombia by the Spanish, sent to India and carved for the Moguls (16th-19th centuries), embellished and set in diamonds in Paris in the 1920s, purchased by a person in New Jersey and bequeathed to the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C.

'Objects of Wonder': Shoebills, posted earlier: