A Bunch of Fabergé Cut Flowers
It was in his Hampton Court office in South West London that a well-heeled lady presented Hanson with a cardboard box containing two hardstone flower ornaments: a barberry twig and a convolvulus vine (morning glory). 'Inside, wrapped in an old tea towel, was the holy grail of what an auctioneer can expect only in their wildest of dreams—not one, but two, Fabergé flowers,' Hanson said in a press release. 'The enormity of such finds cannot be underestimated. Such works are the rarest of Fabergé's craftsmanship and are very special.'
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Epoch Times
13-08-2025
- Epoch Times
A Bunch of Fabergé Cut Flowers
When auctioneer and antiques expert Charles Hanson set off for work in the summer of 2018, little did he know that he'd stumble upon the find of a lifetime. It was in his Hampton Court office in South West London that a well-heeled lady presented Hanson with a cardboard box containing two hardstone flower ornaments: a barberry twig and a convolvulus vine (morning glory). 'Inside, wrapped in an old tea towel, was the holy grail of what an auctioneer can expect only in their wildest of dreams—not one, but two, Fabergé flowers,' Hanson said in a press release. 'The enormity of such finds cannot be underestimated. Such works are the rarest of Fabergé's craftsmanship and are very special.'
Newsweek
21-07-2025
- Newsweek
Rescue Dog Left Home Alone—Woman Left Heartbroken by Note From Neighbor
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. A woman has revealed the heartbreaking note she received from her neighbors after adopting a dog who spent 7 years in a puppy mill. Emily Hanson, 38, initially started fostering Otto, the Shih-tzu in June 2024. He was estimated to be around 7 years old, and it's likely that he'd spent his entire life in a cage. There was no denying that the life he had to endure took its toll on Otto. Hanson told Newsweek that he was "so anxious that he didn't sleep" for the first 24 hours that she had him. Even when he did manage to rest, he would sleep in "very small increments" because he just couldn't settle. It took Otto several weeks to develop a proper sleep schedule, and he's still afraid of certain things (plates and bowls to name a few). Nonetheless, he's come an awful long way, and he was officially adopted by Hanson in July 2024. "I'm so proud of him and the progress he's made," Hanson, of Columbus, Ohio, said. "He's come such a long way. His Shih-tzu personality shines now, and he learned to go down steps and go in the grass." Otto the rescue dog, and the note Hanson received from her neighbors. Otto the rescue dog, and the note Hanson received from her neighbors. @miltonandotto / TikTok Shortly after adopting Otto, Hanson received a handwritten letter from her neighbors saying that the dog "has been pretty loud" and "seems to be anxious" whenever she's gone. The note continued: "Wanted to make sure you knew about it, and get your pup feeling okay and comfortable when you're gone from the apartment. Thanks, your neighbors." As soon as she read the letter, Hanson "felt terrible" for Otto and her neighbors too. She has a pet cam in her apartment, so she was aware that Otto had separation anxiety, but she had hoped that it didn't bother her neighbors. Hanson said: "I lived in a building with 9 other units, so the noise was likely disruptive. I had been taking him everywhere I could. I pretty much knew every dog friendly bar and restaurant in the Columbus area. And though I only worked in the office two days a week, he was not welcome at a corporate office. So, I guess I hoped the neighbors wouldn't be home during that time." Upon reading the letter, Hanson knew she needed to make it up to her neighbors. She bought Starbucks gift cards for everyone on her floor and the person who lives directly beneath her apartment. She also wrote notes for them to explain Otto's backstory, in which she told them he'd been rescued from a puppy mill "where he was kept in a cage for 7 years." She thanked them for their patience and understanding, and said she was actively working on his separation anxiety. The note Hanson wrote for her neighbors to apologize and explain. The note Hanson wrote for her neighbors to apologize and explain. @miltonandotto / TikTok While she isn't certain which neighbor wrote the letter, Hanson has spoken directly to some of the people in her building and they were very understanding. It's been 12 months since she received that letter, and Otto has made great strides in that time. For the most part, he doesn't bark or whine when Hanson leaves now. Whenever she checks the pet cam, he's usually asleep with his blind rescue brother named Milton. "He does get sad when I leave, but he is doing so well. He was not left alone for more than 30 minutes to an hour after that note. He either went to a friend's who was home, or a dog sitter. Little by little, I tried various ways to leave him, and one day, miraculously, there was no barking, crying or scratching. And it just got better from there," Hanson continued. Indeed, Hanson told Newsweek that Milton "appreciates the peace" now too as they can both get their beauty sleep. The proud owner often documents the lives of her rescue dogs on their dedicated TikTok account (@miltonandotto), and in July she shared a post about the note her neighbors wrote. The post has melted hearts in a matter of days, leading to more than 38,200 views and over 3,200 likes on TikTok at the time of writing. The online response has been incredibly uplifting, as Hanson hopes to show that rescue dogs are capable of thriving if they're given patience and love. "Everyone, for the most part, is supportive and proud of Otto for being such a champ. I hope we are helping to educate people on the horrors of puppy mills but also the strength and resilience of dogs. It has been one of the greatest joys of my life to watch Otto thrive," Hanson said. Otto's story has generated over 100 comments on TikTok, as internet users praised the progress he's made so far. One comment reads: "such a brave little soul!" Another TikTok user wrote: "That was such a sweet and thoughtful note they left, glad he's doing better." Another person responded: "Beautiful story and ending." Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? We want to see the best ones! Send them in to life@ and they could appear on our site.
Yahoo
11-07-2025
- Yahoo
Shipwreck with Door County ties that was lost for 131 years is a national historic place
The Lake Michigan wreck of a cargo ship with close ties to Door County and Wisconsin that remained lost for 131 years until it was found in 2024 after a deliberate search is now on the National Register of Historic Places. The remains of the Margaret A. Muir, which lie in about 50 feet of water a few miles off the shore of Algoma, was listed on the national historic register June 23, according to its Wisconsin Historical Society listing. The vessel joined the Wisconsin State Register of Historic Places four months prior, on Feb. 22. The Muir was a 130-foot-long, three-masted cargo schooner built in Manitowoc that sank about 4 miles out of Algoma in 1893, while it was co-owned and captained by a former Door County resident. According to its listing on the Wisconsin Shipwrecks website, the Muir was built in 1872 by the Hanson & Scove shipyard in Manitowoc for Capt. David Muir. It subsequently was home ported in Chicago, carrying primarily grain but also coal, ores and other goods in its 21-year career spanning all five of the Great Lakes. The Muir sustained occasional damages during its duty, mostly caused by weather and towing issues that appear typical for wooden Great Lakes cargo ships of the day. One noteworthy reported incident happened in Buffalo in October 1890 when another vessel left the port at full speed, the shipwrecks site says, and cut the lines of the Muir and another cargo ship while they were docked, sending the latter two adrift and almost colliding with each other. In 1893, former Door County resident Capt. David Clow, age 71 at the time, bought co-ownership of the vessel with Capt. Muir. Clow and his wife, Sarah, lived on Chambers Island from 1853 to 1872. He was a veteran of the shipping industry on the lakes, surviving a number of wrecks, and he and his wife started a small shipyard on the island, cutting trees for wood and building ships by hand. Clow was taking the Muir from Bay City, Michigan, to South Chicago with a cargo of bulk salt on Sept. 30, 1893, when at 5 a.m. the ship was hit by a 50 mph gale in Lake Michigan. It reportedly was weathering the storm well until about 7:30 a.m., when the waves grew dramatically larger and it fell into the trough between the waves, leading to massive amounts of water washing over its decks. Clow made for the nearest port, which was Ahnapee, now Algoma. The Muir was within a few miles of the port when at about 8 a.m. Clow went below deck and found several feet of water in the hold. He immediately ordered the crew to abandon ship, but almost at once the ship lurched and plunged into the water. The small yawl used as a lifeboat immediately filled with water after it was launched, but Clow and his crew of six managed to pilot the boat through 15-foot waves, with almost constant bailing of water from the yawl to keep it afloat, to land on the beach. All of the crew survived, but Clow lost his dog, the ship's mascot, and most of the crew lost all their possessions. Over the next several months, the Muir was broken up by wind and wave action and declared a hazard to navigation. In 1894, it was dynamited to flatten the hazard. In the aftermath of this and the other wrecks he survived, Clow said he was quitting the maritime shipping business. As the decades passed, the location of the 1893 wreck became unknown, until it was found May 12, 2024, by three maritime historians with the Wisconsin Underwater Archeology Association: president Brendon Baillod, vice-president Kevin Cullen and director Robert Jaeck. Using a database Baillod began compiling about 20 years ago of missing shipwrecks in Wisconsin waters, he was able to create a grid of about 2 by 2 miles where the remains of the Muir most likely would be, and the three historians deliberately searched for the Muir for a couple years before locating it with high-resolution side-scanning sonar. In a 2024 interview with the Advocate, Baillod said the Muir was a prime candidate for discovery because consistent reports were made of its approximate location when it sank, and those reports indicated it was close to land and therefore likely in shallower water than if it was in the middle of the lake. Baillod also said the Muir is important to Wisconsin maritime buffs because of its connections to the state. And while the hull is broken up, all of its deck gear is still on hand and intact, including two giant anchors, hand pumps, bow windlass and capstan. Also, the sides of its hull fell outward when it wrecked, so it's easier to study the unusual stepped sternpost construction of its its inner architecture. The historic place listing currently says the site already has yielded a great deal of knowledge about maritime archaeology of the period with more expected to come. Plus, Baillod added, the Muir lies in relatively shallow water and so is more easily accessible than many other Lake Michigan wrecks, and the remains are more visible than some others because they have very few mussels covering them. Following the Muir's discovery, a team of divers collected thousands of high-resolution images of the wreck, and Zach Whitrock used those images to create a 3D photogrammetry model of the wreck site that people can explore virtually on the Sketchfab website, including with a virtual reality headset. The discovery of the Muir came less than a year after Baillod and Jaeck used similar mapping and deliberate search techniques to find the wreck of the Trinidad, a 140-foot cargo schooner that sank in 270 feet of Lake Michigan water about 9.5 miles off Algoma in May of 1881. The unusually intact and preserved remains of the Trinidad were named to the Wisconsin and National Registers of Historic Places in 2024. State and federal laws protect the wreck of the Margaret A. Muir. Divers may not remove artifacts or structure when visiting this site. Removing, defacing, displacing or destroying artifacts or sites is a crime. For more information on the State and National Register programs in Wisconsin, visit For more on the Muir and other Wisconsin shipwrecks in the Great Lakes, visit Contact Christopher Clough at 920-562-8900 or cclough@ MORE: Here's what to know about Door County's 2025 pick-your-own cherry season MORE: Door County museum gets four times its previous storage space by getting a new building FOR MORE DOOR COUNTY NEWS: Check out our website This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Long-lost shipwreck with Door County ties is a national historic place
