16th century: Did you mean...?

Greek grave stele depicting a couple greeting each other, affectionately taking one hand in the other. This grave stele came from the Kerameikos in Athens and is dated to the 5th Century BCE. It is now housed...

A miniature Qur'an in vellum binding. Mughal Empire, 18th century. (Victoria and Albert Museum, London)

An illustration of a mid-18th century British infantryman. 39th Regiment, 1742.

Kilpeck church stone carvings: Manticore. Dating to the 12th century and found at the Church of St Mary and St David in Herefordshire, England.

An 18th-century alcohol thermometer. Made in the Netherlands between 1720 and 1750. (Science Museum, London)

A French 17th-century wheellock carbine. This type of weapon was typically used by cavalrymen, for example, during the English Civil Wars. (1642-51). This example is particularly ornate since it was possibly made for...

An early 18th-century microscope designed and made by John Marshall. It is a compound microscope, that is, it uses three lenses. Made of brass, wood, and other materials. (Science Museum, London)

This relief of a male holding a bird is from the 5th century BCE, found in modern day western Turkey near the ancient city of Thyatira. Thyatira was named such by Seleucos I Nicator around 290 BCE but prior to that...

An early-20th-century painting by Major A.C. Lovett of a sepoy in the British Indian Army. (From The Armies of India, 1911)

The hydria, as its name indicates, was used almost exclusively for carrying water (Greek hydor), essential for everyday cleansing, ritual purifications and libations. 4th-century BCE. Made from bronze. (Hellenic Museum...