Victorian Bee Brooch with Garnet, Opal, and Pearls

• Victorian Period - The Victorian period of furniture and decorative arts design covers the reign of Queen Victoria from 1837 to 1901. There was not one dominant style of furniture in the Victorian period. Designers used and modified many historical styles such as Gothic, Tudor, Elizabethan, English Rococo, Neoclassical and others, although use of some styles, such as English Rococo and Gothic tended to dominate the furniture manufacture of the period.
  
  The Victorian period was preceded by the Regency and William IV periods, and followed by the Edwardian period, named for Edward VII (1841 ? 1910) who was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India for the brief period from 1901 until his death in 1910.
• Cabochon Cut in Jewellery - A cabochon cut is a type of gemstone cutting where the stone is cut and polished in a convex shape with a flat bottom and a domed top, with no facets. This type of cut is typically used for opaque or translucent stones that have natural patterns or inclusions that are best displayed in this type of cut. Examples of stones that are often cut as cabochons include turquoise, opal, and moonstone.
• Bee Motif - The bee is a popular motif in jewellery design, often used to symbolize industry, hard work, and the natural world. They can be depicted in a variety of styles, from realistic to stylized, and are often used as a decorative element on rings, pendants, earrings, and other types of jewellery. In many cultures, bees are also seen as a symbol of prosperity and good luck, making them a popular choice for talismanic jewellery. Some people also choose to wear bee-themed jewellery as a way to show support for the conservation of bees, which are important pollinators that play a vital role in the health of ecosystems around the world.
• Garnet - A garnet is a mineral that is commonly used as a gemstone. It occurs in a wide range of colours, including red, pink, orange, green, yellow, and black. The most common and best known type of garnet is the red variety, which has a deep, rich colour and is often referred to as a "garnet red."
  
  Garnets have a long history of use as gemstones, and they have been prized for their beauty and durability for thousands of years. They are often used in jewellery, such as rings, necklaces, and earrings, and they are also sometimes used as a decorative element in other items, such as vases and goblets.
  
  Garnets are prized for their brilliance, durability, and resistance to scratching, making them a popular choice for use in jewellery. They are also valued for their hardness, which makes them well suited for use in abrasive applications, such as sandpaper and grinding wheels.

This item has been included into following indexes:

• brooches, depicting - bee 78
• brooches, gold - gold with seed pearls 1,011
• brooches, period or age - Australian Colonial and later 35