|
Beetlewing
Beetlewing, or beetlewing art, is an ancient craft technique using iridescent beetle wings practiced traditionally in Thailand, Myanmar, India, China and Japan. Notable beetlewing garments include Lady Curzon's peacock dress (1903) and a costume dress worn by the actress Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth, depicted in the painting '' Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth'' (1889). Tradition It was common in some of the ancient cultures of Asia to attach beetlewing pieces as an adornment to paintings, textiles and jewelry. Different species of metallic wood-boring beetle wings were used depending on the region, but traditionally the most valued were those from beetles belonging to genus '' Sternocera''. Their wings were valued for their beautiful and hardy metallic emerald iridescence. The shiny appearance of beetlewings is long-lasting. They are surprisingly durable if subject to normal non-abusive use. In Thailand, beetlewings of wood–boring beetles ''Sternocera spp.'' ( th, แมล ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ellen Terry As Lady Macbeth
''Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth'' is an oil painting by John Singer Sargent now in Tate Britain. Painted in 1889, it depicts actress Ellen Terry in a famous performance as Lady Macbeth in William Shakespeare's tragedy '' Macbeth'', wearing a green dress decorated with iridescent beetle wings. The play was produced by Henry Irving at the Lyceum Theatre, London, with Irving also playing Macbeth opposite Terry. Sargent attended the opening night on 29 December 1888 and was inspired to paint Terry's portrait almost immediately. Dress Terry's spectacular gown was designed by Alice Comyns Carr (1850–1927) and made in crochet by Ada Nettleship, using a soft green wool and blue tinsel yarn from Bohemia to create an effect similar to chain mail. It was embroidered with gold and decorated with 1,000 iridescent wing cases from the green jewel beetle, '' Sternocera aequisignata''. The dress has a narrow border of Celtic designs worked out in red and white stones, is hemmed on all the e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Insects In Culture
Human interactions with insects include both a wide variety of uses, whether practical such as for food, textiles, and dyestuffs, or symbolic, as in art, music, and literature, and negative interactions including serious damage to crops and extensive efforts to eliminate insect pests. Academically, the interaction of insects and society has been treated in part as cultural entomology, dealing mostly with "advanced" societies, and in part as ethnoentomology, dealing mostly with "primitive" societies, though the distinction is weak and not based on theory. Both academic disciplines explore the parallels, connections and influence of insects on human populations, and vice versa. They are rooted in anthropology and natural history, as well as entomology, the study of insects. Other cultural uses of insects, such as biomimicry, do not necessarily lie within these academic disciplines. More generally, people make a wide range of uses of insects, both practical and symbolic. On the oth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beetle
Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 described species, is the largest of all orders, constituting almost 40% of described insects and 25% of all known animal life-forms; new species are discovered frequently, with estimates suggesting that there are between 0.9 and 2.1 million total species. Found in almost every habitat except the sea and the polar regions, they interact with their ecosystems in several ways: beetles often feed on plants and fungi, break down animal and plant debris, and eat other invertebrates. Some species are serious agricultural pests, such as the Colorado potato beetle, while others such as Coccinellidae (ladybirds or ladybugs) eat aphids, scale insects, thrips, and other plant-sucking insects that damage crops. Beetles typically have a particularly hard e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Metallic Wood-boring Beetle
Buprestidae is a family of beetles known as jewel beetles or metallic wood-boring beetles because of their glossy iridescent colors. Larvae of this family are known as flatheaded borers. The family is among the largest of the beetles, with some 15,500 species known in 775 genera. In addition, almost 100 fossil species have been described. The larger and more spectacularly colored jewel beetles are highly prized by insect collectors. The elytra of some Buprestidae species have been traditionally used in beetlewing jewellery and decoration in certain countries in Asia, like India, Thailand and Japan. Description and ecology Shape is generally cylindrical or elongate to ovoid, with lengths ranging from , although most species are under . ''Catoxantha'', '' Chrysaspis'', ''Euchroma'' and ''Megaloxantha'' contain the largest species. A variety of bright colors are known, often in complicated patterns. The iridescence common to these beetles is not due to pigments in the exoskeleton, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Buprestidae
Buprestidae is a family of beetles known as jewel beetles or metallic wood-boring beetles because of their glossy iridescent colors. Larvae of this family are known as flatheaded borers. The family is among the largest of the beetles, with some 15,500 species known in 775 genera. In addition, almost 100 fossil species have been described. The larger and more spectacularly colored jewel beetles are highly prized by insect collectors. The elytra of some Buprestidae species have been traditionally used in beetlewing jewellery and decoration in certain countries in Asia, like India, Thailand and Japan. Description and ecology Shape is generally cylindrical or elongate to ovoid, with lengths ranging from , although most species are under . ''Catoxantha'', '' Chrysaspis'', ''Euchroma'' and ''Megaloxantha'' contain the largest species. A variety of bright colors are known, often in complicated patterns. The iridescence common to these beetles is not due to pigments in the exoskeleton, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lady Curzon's Peacock Dress
The Peacock dress of Lady Curzon is a gown made of gold and silver thread embroidered by the Workshop of Kishan Chand (India), and designed by Jean-Philippe Worth for Mary Curzon, Baroness Curzon of Kedleston to celebrate the 1902 Coronation of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra at the second Delhi Durbar in 1903. It is today kept in the Kedleston Hall, Derbyshire, as part of its collection. The dress features a design representing the feathers of a peacock, a symbol of great significance in Indian culture and the Hindu religion, on a fabric traditionally worn by Mughal court rulers. Lady Curzon’s dress was a reference to the Peacock Throne that originally stood in the Diwan-I-Khas, palace where the ball took place. This dazzling jewelled throne, now lost, was made for Shah Jahan in the early 17th century but was looted during the Persian invasion of Nader Shah in 1739. A replica throne was destroyed in 1857 when the British commandeered the Red Fort as a garrison in India ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sternocera Aequisignata91
''Sternocera'' is a genus of jewel beetles belonging to the Julodinae subfamily. Characteristics There are 26 species in this genus. Some species—''S. aequisignata'' and ''S. aurosignata''—are used for beetlewing craft because of their iridescent wings. Species Gallery File:Sternocera castanea boucardii Saunders, 1874 (3028954491) (2).jpg, '' Sternocera castanea boucardii'' File:Buprestidae - Sternocera castanea boucardii.JPG, ''Sternocera castanea boucardii'', mounted specimen at National Museum (Prague) File:Buprestidae - Sternocera chrysis-1.JPG, ''Sternocera chrysis'', mounted specimen at National Museum (Prague) The National Museum (NM) (Czech: ''Národní muzeum'') is a Czech museum institution intended to systematically establish, prepare, and publicly exhibit natural scientific and historical collections. It was founded in 1818 by Kašpar Maria Štern ... File:Sternocera.chrysis.chrysidoides.mounted.jpg, ''Sternocera chrysis chrysidoides'' from In ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sternocera
''Sternocera'' is a genus of jewel beetles belonging to the Julodinae subfamily. Characteristics There are 26 species in this genus. Some species—''S. aequisignata'' and ''S. aurosignata''—are used for beetlewing craft because of their iridescent wings. Species Gallery File:Sternocera castanea boucardii Saunders, 1874 (3028954491) (2).jpg, '' Sternocera castanea boucardii'' File:Buprestidae - Sternocera castanea boucardii.JPG, ''Sternocera castanea boucardii'', mounted specimen at National Museum (Prague) File:Buprestidae - Sternocera chrysis-1.JPG, ''Sternocera chrysis'', mounted specimen at National Museum (Prague) The National Museum (NM) (Czech: ''Národní muzeum'') is a Czech museum institution intended to systematically establish, prepare, and publicly exhibit natural scientific and historical collections. It was founded in 1818 by Kašpar Maria Štern ... File:Sternocera.chrysis.chrysidoides.mounted.jpg, ''Sternocera chrysis chrysidoides'' from In ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chrysochroa Fulgidissima
''Chrysochroa fulgidissima'', "jewel beetle" or Yamato tamamushi in Japanese (ヤマトタマムシ) is a metallic woodboring beetle of the family Buprestidae. Characteristics This beetle is native to Japan and Korea. It is typically found in woods or forests during summer under the strong sunshine and can grow between in length. The Tamamushi Shrine, an Asuka Period miniature shrine located at Hōryū-ji Temple, Nara prefecture, was decorated with lacquer and oil painting on wood, gilt bronze plaques, and with beetlewing work using the iridescent wings of the ''Chrysochroa fulgidissima'' beetle. Tamamushi-iro Since this insect has iridescent wings that glow lengthwise with different colors depending upon the light angle, one cannot be sure exactly which color it is. Therefore, it gave rise to the expression ''tamamushi-iro'' (tamamushi color), in reference to a convoluted statement that can be interpreted in more ways than one. The term ''tamamushi-iro'' is used in the co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tamamushi Shrine
The is a miniature shrine owned by the Hōryū-ji temple complex of Nara, Nara, Nara, Japan. Its date of construction is unknown, but estimated to be around the middle of the seventh century. Decorated with rare examples of Asuka period, Asuka-period Japanese painting#Ancient Japan and Asuka period .28until 710.29, paintings, it provides important clues to the Japanese architecture#Asuka and Nara architecture, architecture of the time and has been Cultural Properties of Japan, designated a National Treasures of Japan, National Treasure. Consisting of a low rectangular dais supporting a plinth upon which stands a miniature Japanese architecture, building tall, the Tamamushi Shrine derives its name from the Iridescence, iridescent wings of the Chrysochroa fulgidissima, tamamushi beetle with which it was once ornamented, but which have now wiktionary:exfoliate, exfoliated. In spite of what its name in English may suggest, the shrine is not a miniature Shinto shrine, as is a term ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
King Chulalongkorn
Chulalongkorn ( th, จุฬาลงกรณ์, 20 September 1853 – 23 October 1910) was the fifth monarch of Siam under the House of Chakri, titled Rama V. He was known to the Siamese of his time as ''Phra Phuttha Chao Luang'' (พระพุทธเจ้าหลวง, the Royal Buddha). Chulalongkorn's reign was characterised by the modernisation of Siam, governmental and social reforms, and territorial concessions to the British and French. As Siam was surrounded by European colonies, Chulalongkorn, through his policies and acts, ensured the independence of Siam. All his reforms were dedicated to ensuring Siam's independence given the increasing encroachment of Western powers, so that Chulalongkorn earned the epithet ''Phra Piya Maharat'' (พระปิยมหาราช, the Great Beloved King). Early life King Chulalongkorn was born on 20 September 1853 to King Mongkut and Queen Debsirindra and given the name Chulalongkorn. In 1861, he was designated ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Indian Art
Indian art consists of a variety of art forms, including painting, sculpture, pottery, and textile arts such as woven silk. Geographically, it spans the entire Indian subcontinent, including what is now India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and at times eastern Afghanistan. A strong sense of design is characteristic of Indian art and can be observed in its modern and traditional forms. The origin of Indian art can be traced to prehistoric settlements in the 3rd millennium BCE. On its way to modern times, Indian art has had cultural influences, as well as religious influences such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and Islam. In spite of this complex mixture of religious traditions, generally, the prevailing artistic style at any time and place has been shared by the major religious groups. In historic art, sculpture in stone and metal, mainly religious, has survived the Indian climate better than other media and provides most of the best remains. Many of the mos ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
%2C_19th_century_(CH_18318821).jpg "Click for more on -> Beetlewing")
.jpg "Click for more on -> Tamamushi Shrine")
