IT took 1,000 beetles to make one of the most celebrated dresses of the 1880s. Audiences gasped when Ellen Terry made her entrance as Lady Macbeth, her costume shimmering with the sheeny wings of green jewel beetles. The showstopper caused Oscar Wilde to remark that Shakespeare's villainess evidently 'took care to do her shopping in Byzantium'. Society portraitist John Singer Sargent, who loved to paint lustrous fabrics, was also captivated and the actress posed for him, arms uplifted, crown held aloft, in what was to become one of his most arresting works.
The theatrical trick that dazzled them all was iridescence. One of Nature's special effects, it occurs when a surface appears to change colour, depending on the angle from which it is viewed. Jewel beetles are some of its glossiest exponents, the many reflective layers of their wing casings producing metallic greens and blues. These have been used decoratively in Asia for centuries, embroidered into clothing and appliquéd to leather. The ancient Egyptians placed them reverently in burial chambers: crushed to a powder, they decorate a cane in Tutankhamun's tomb.
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Tales as old as time
By appointing writers-in-residence to landscape locations, the National Trust is hoping to spark in us a new engagement with our ancient surroundings, finds Richard Smyth
Do the active farmer test
Farming is a profession, not a lifestyle choice’ and, therefore, the Budget is unfair
Night Thoughts by Howard Hodgkin
Charlotte Mullins comments on Moght Thoughts
SOS: save our wild salmon
Jane Wheatley examines the dire situation facing the king of fish
Into the deep
Beneath the crystal-clear, alien world of water lie the great piscean survivors of the Ice Age. The Lake District is a fish-spotter's paradise, reports John Lewis-Stempel
It's alive!
Living, burping and bubbling fermented masses of flour, yeast and water that spawn countless loaves—Emma Hughes charts the rise and rise) of sourdough starters
There's orange gold in them thar fields
A kitchen staple that is easily taken for granted, the carrot is actually an incredibly tricky customer to cultivate that could reduce a grown man to tears, says Sarah Todd
True blues
I HAVE been planting English bluebells. They grow in their millions in the beechwoods that surround us—but not in our own garden. They are, however, a protected species. The law is clear and uncompromising: ‘It is illegal to dig up bluebells or their bulbs from the wild, or to trade or sell wild bluebell bulbs and seeds.’ I have, therefore, had to buy them from a respectable bulb-merchant.
Oh so hip
Stay the hand that itches to deadhead spent roses and you can enjoy their glittering fruits instead, writes John Hoyland
A best kept secret
Oft-forgotten Rutland, England's smallest county, is a 'Notswold' haven deserving of more attention, finds Nicola Venning
