Alas, poor object of the week. We know you well because you’re one of the first objects encountered upon entering the Museum. What are you again?

Did you know what last week’s object of the week was?

Sea Turtle

Well done if you knew that last week’s object was a Sea Turtle! Did you connected the four renaissance painters with the districts in Germany that have turtles on their coat of arms? Or did you just know it was a sea turtle?

Like our snake skin shoes, this object was given to the museum by the UK Border Agency. They had confiscated it from someone entering the country that did not have the proper import license.

There are seven living species of sea turtle; we think this is a green Sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) which is classed as Endangered by the IUCN. Turtle soup made from the fat of the green turtle was once a popular dish and something of a status symbol, as it was very expensive and difficult to prepare.