Victorian Cat’s Eye Beetle Brooch in Silver on Gold, c. 1885

In the last third of the 19th century, a new fashion spread in the metropolises of Western Europe: pieces of jewellery in the form of insects were allowed to settle on their wearers as brooches, pins or hair ornaments. Spiders, bees, butterflies, dragonflies and even beetles were used as "novelty jewellery" at dinner parties and soirées as a starting point for lively conversation. Beetles were particularly popular in the 1880s. The gown that Ellen Terry wore in 1888 in her role as Lady Macbeth, today in Smallhythe Place, was embroidered all over with iridescent green beetle wings. Real beetles, set in gold, were regarded as so-called "Cleopatra ornaments" in the style of the ancient scarabs. The famous Parure of Lady Granville, created around 1885, now in the British Museum, is an example of beetle jewellery in the Egyptian taste. A few ladies even dared to wear live beetles as scarabs on necklaces around their necks, causing more than just admiration. This bar brooch was created in the wake of this beetle craze of the 1880s and is deliberately naturalistic in design. The beetle's body is formed by a dark green chrysoberyl cat's eye, which also shimmers in the light and when it moves. The eyes are made of rubies, the head of sparkling small diamonds. Even the underside of the body, which is made of gold, is modeled on the real shell of a beetle. The little animal has settled on a gold bar brooch and appears to be crawling towards a pearl. We were able to discover this fine and exciting piece of jewellery in Munich. It was likely created in Britain.

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