Jewel beetles, true to their name, are so shiny and colorful that their wings have historically been used in decorative crafts. A newly revealed example is a gilt bronze harness ornament unearthed at the Funabaru tomb mounds in Koga, Fukuoka Prefecture, dating from the late sixth to early seventh centuries. The city's board of education announced Friday that the harness is decorated with jewel beetle wings.
Decoration with such beetle wings was a top-class craft technique of the Korean Peninsula's Silla Dynasty at the time. There are only three other places in Japan where such decorations have been found. One such item is the seventh-century Tamamushi-no-Zushi (miniature temple with jewel beetle wings), a national treasure at Horyuji temple in Nara Prefecture.
The Funabaru discovery thus indicates that it was a high-status tomb.
About 20 wings were laid on a single piece of ornamental metalwork called a gyoyo, measuring about about 10 centimeters by 10 centimeters. The wings were a base for an openwork plant pattern.
Although the colors of the original harness have been lost, a replica showing its original form also displayed to the public.
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