Natural Specimens

A beetle the size of a hand, pinned under glass. Natural history specimens and curiosities here include framed insects from Malaysia, Madagascar, Papua New Guinea and West Africa, fossilized shells from Sulawesi, coral, and fossil teeth on stands. The framed insects run from the titan beetle of French Guiana to the giant leaf insect of Malaysia, along with Toxodera mantises, jewel beetles, cicadas and butterflies, each set in a case of wood and glass.

French museum models of Solomon Islands trophy skulls, built of clay, cowrie, hemp and rattan, stand near a sea fan coral, a rock crystal star, and Italian sea urchins and starfish in plated nickel and sterling silver. A few carved Japanese bone pieces, an Edo period okimono and a Meiji card case among them, keep the company interesting. Group specimens along a bookcase shelf or hang a row of insect cases down a hallway. A cabinet of curiosities, minus the cabinet.