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BUTTERFLY WING JEWELRY - A NATURAL EXPRESSION OF BEAUTY

Jewelry which is made from insects dates back to ancient times, but one style which has remained popular to today is butterfly wing jewelry. First promoted during the British Empire Exhibition of 1924, Thomas Mott's butterfly wing jewelry exhibit is now credited with making butterfly jewelry a fashion rage.

Have you noticed it before?

It's easy to recognize the beauty of a butterfly in nature. The colors are superb and everyone is drawn to these fluttering beauties. When it comes to butterfly wing jewelry, though, you may have walked right past a piece of jewelry made using this natural medium without giving it a second thought. That is one of the beauties of butterfly wing jewelry, it is subtle and yet so beautiful.

The wing is not the main feature

This type of jewelry is not instantly recognizable as being made from butterfly wings because the wing itself forms the background of the piece, not so much the main feature. The color of the wings are often a vibrant blue, so it lends itself to a water or sky motif. Then, an artist may reverse paint the forefront of the scene to make the piece of jewelry that you are viewing.

Styles of Butterfly Wing Jewelry

Basically, there are three different types of vintage butterfly wing jewelry:

• 1. The first is jewelry that actually contains a whole butterfly. Jewelry like this is often found in a large pendant and is quite rare. It is among the oldest styles of this form of jewelry.
• 2. The second type is called "Morpho Butterfly Jewelry." It has scenes reverse painted on the glass or lucite covering the butterfly wing. Common scenes are tropical, western, even people and animals.
• 3. The third style is Morpho Butterfly jewelry which has not been altered in any way. The wing of the butterfly is set in jewelry so as to showcase it's natural beauty.

Hoffman Butterfly Jewelry

In the USA, a company called Hoffman started making butterfly-wing jewelry during the late thirties. They still manufacture today, with new pieces being sold at the Amish Farm & Home Gift Shop in Lancaster, PA. Older Hoffman pieces range from the typical palm tree & sunset motif to the very attractive art deco or arts & crafts style frames. Their newer pieces have an Amish motif.

Caring for Butterfly Jewelry

To care for butterfly wing jewelry, one of the most important factors is moisture. Never get butterfly jewelry wet as water can seep under the glass and destroy the bright blue color, turning it a dull purple. For this reason, ultrasonic cleaners are not recommended as a cleaning method. Just use a soft polishing cloth, such as a sunshine cloth to keep the metal and glass or lucite covering in good condition and you are all set.

Examples of Butterfly Jewelry

Here are some examples of butterfly wing jewelry. You can click to open them up for greater detail. The last photo actually shows the detail of the butterfly wing particularly well.

Butterfly Jewelry as a collectible

All of this information has been compiled from my research into the subject and is offered without warranty from vintagejewelrylane.com.

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