Lady Granville's beetle parure
- Gallery: Room 47
- Maker: Phillips Brothers
- Made in: London (England)
- Date: 1884-1885
- Object type: parure, necklace, ear-ring
- Materials: gold; weevil tissue; silk; leather; wood
- Museum number: 2016,8037.1.a-e
- Museum: The British Museum
- Collection record: British Museum website
- Image © The Trustees of the British Museum, shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 licence.
Listen to the free audio guide
About this object
Before you is Lady Granville's beetle parure, a striking piece of jewelry made in 1884–1885 in London. The set includes a tiara, necklace, and earrings, all featuring the iridescent green wing cases of lamprocyphus augustus, a type of South American weevil. These tiny beetles, preserved and mounted in gold, are arranged with intricate lotus motifs in the style inspired by ancient Egypt.
Each piece combines fine gold work with tiny gold rods and black enamel beads, creating a shimmering, exotic effect. The jewelry came in a custom case marked "Phillips, 23 Cockspur St, London," indicating it was crafted by Phillips Brothers, a noted London jeweler.
The parure was a diplomatic gift, given during the Anglo-Portuguese treaty negotiations and later mounted as a personal gift for Lady Granville by her husband, Lord Granville. This piece reflects late 19th-century fascination with exotic materials and design borrowings from distant cultures.
See it in person
Lady Granville's beetle parure is on display in Room 47 at the British Museum on Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, London — free to enter. Choose British Museum on audioguide.london and take a photo of it to hear this free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
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