The Victorians were great fans of novelty jewelry. Ornaments of curiosity were designed with consideration for beauty and color, but also with the intent to amuse and delight the wearer. Such eccentric styles include mounted hummingbird heads, tiny golden renderings of mice, and bejeweled flies, just to name a few. These c. 1880 earrings would have been classed as “Cleopatra ornaments,” though they bear little relation to the jewels of Ancient Egypt, and in fact, the beetles were most likely imported from South America. The iridescent (real!) beetles are set in twisted wire frames with petite pendant torpedo drops.