I recently acquired some beetle jewellery and wanted to know more about the symbolism of insects. One interesting article on the topic is by Robert Liu titled “The Symbolic Importance of Insects in Jewelry”. He stated that there were five orders of insects that were symbolically important in jewellery – cicadas, butterflies, beetle, dragonflies and flies. There are of course many other insects represented in jewellery but these five were apparently the most common.
According to Liu, cicadas were associated with resurrection and immortality by the ancient Chinese while Native Americans associated dragonflies with the whirlwind, swiftness and activity. However, the dragonfly was viewed negatively by the Japanese and Ancient Chinese.
The Chinese and Mycenaean Greeks associated butterflies with rebirth, immortality and longevity, and to the Greeks and some pre-Hispanic cultures, butterflies represented the soul. Beetles such as the dung beetle represented rebirth to the Ancient Egyptians.
Flies were regarded by the Phoenicians as evil and destructive but in Ancient Egypt and Nubia, their persistence in seeking food was interpreted as bravery in attacking the enemy (Liu, 371).
The Victorians were very keen on novelty pieces of jewellery in the shape of insects and birds, as they were interested in nature. The excavation of Egyptian sites in the late 19th century and early 20th century also led to a revived interest in beetle jewellery, particularly scarab beetles, which I will talk about in my next post.
Reference:
Robert Liu, “The Symbolic Importance of Insects in Jewelry”, (2001) Transactions of the American Entomological Society, Vol 127, No 2, pp 167-171
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