A circa 1880 beetle brooch with reddish tiger’s eye and seed pearls

Designed as a stylised beetle, this Late Victorian brooch of circa 1880 has a quietly eccentric charm. Its reddish brown tiger’s eye body shows a subtle rose copper sheen as the light moves across it, while seed pearls and red stone eyes add small points of brightness. Made in gilded silver, with time-softened wear to the gilding, it reflects the 19th-century delight in nature, exoticism and imaginative jewel design.