Curiosities

How to Choose and Display Oddities and Curiosities

Curiosities look best when they look collected, not dropped. Pick by material first, then by size, then decide where the piece will live.

Real Specimens in Resin and Glass

Realbug preserves a genuine specimen inside a crystal-clear block of hand-cast resin, so the specimen is protected and visible from every side. The Rhinoceros Beetle is Allomyrina dichotoma, with its forked horn, in a rectangular block. The Common Bluebottle Butterfly, Graphium sarpedon, shows its blue-green wing bands in a square one, and the Tarantula fills a square block of its own. The rest of the line runs through the Stag Beetle in two sizes, the Asian Longhorned Beetle, the Green Chafer Beetle and the Blister Beetle. The small ones start at $10, and every specimen is a little different.

Green Beetle works in glass instead. Each insect is ethically sourced, hand-posed and sealed in a globe with a cork stopper for a full view from any angle. The Luna Moth, the Western Hercules beetle and the damselfly are online now. The globes are made to order, so size and color vary, and a similar specimen may be substituted if one isn't available.

Skulls and Sculptural Pieces

Contrast's Modern World line casts its skulls with real anatomical detail. The kudu skull is cast in resin, with spiral horns, and stands 28 inches tall on a double-step glass base. The monkey skull is 4 by 4 by 10 inches, finished to read as aged bone. Accent Decor's Boa Bowl is food-safe ceramic with a raised-scale snake wrapped around the outside and its head over the rim, in a green reactive glaze, made to hold plants, objects or snacks.

The mistake we see most is one small oddity alone on a big empty shelf. Give it company, like books, stone or brass, and it starts to read as a collection.

Fossils and Folk Objects

Not every curiosity is an animal. Tesoros Trading Co.'s Peruvian amulet vial layers good luck charms from the Andean folk tradition in clear glass, a miniature saint beside a Huayruru seed and bits of iron pyrite, the mineral known as fool's gold. It belongs to the same family as milagros and the mesa altars of the Andes. Copernicus Toys' Awesome Fossils card puts a set of fossil specimens on a 4 by 6-inch card, part of its Compact Curiosities line.

Where to Put Them

A single strong piece holds a console, a study or an entryway, which is where Contrast suggests the kudu skull, alongside raw stone, dark wood and framed botanical prints. The monkey skull pairs with books, geological samples and antique instruments, per its listing. Smaller specimens work in groups of three on a bookshelf, mixed with books and objects of different heights. Our bookshelf styling rules cover the spacing, and our coffee table books give a stack something to sit on.

Keep glass globes out of direct sun. Green Beetle's glass isn't UV protected, so treat a globe like a framed print and keep it off a sunny sill.

Curiosity Gifts and Small Oddities

Curiosities are an easy gift for the person who already owns everything, because nobody else thought of it. Here's how we'd shop them.

• Under $50: a Realbug resin paperweight or a Peruvian amulet vial, a small glass vial holding a miniature saint figure, a red-and-black Huayruru seed and bits of iron pyrite, from the Andean folk tradition. More in gifts under $50.
• For young collectors: Copernicus Toys' Awesome Fossils, a 4 by 6-inch card of fossil specimens from its Compact Curiosities line.
• For the desk: a Realbug beetle in resin, made for a desk or a bookshelf.
• For the table: Accent Decor's Boa Bowl, food-safe, for snacks or a small plant.
• For a statement: the kudu skull on its glass base, or Green Beetle's Luna Moth globe.

Collecting Over Time

One specimen is an object. Three is a collection. Build around a theme, like beetles, moths or bone, and the shelf starts to look intentional by the third piece.

Oddities and Curiosities in Cincinnati

The website shows only a small part of the curiosities we carry. Skulls, bones, specimens in resin and more are on the floor in Over-the-Rhine, taxidermy is on its way online, and every insect specimen is an individual, so no two look exactly alike.

High St. is a 17,000-square-foot lifestyle store at 1401 Reading Rd in Over-the-Rhine. We're open every day but Tuesday, 10am to 6pm, with Sunday hours of 11am to 4pm. Call 513.723.1901 and we'll tell you what's on the shelf before you come in.

Design Studio and Rosemary's

When a curiosity is the start of a whole room, our Design Studio, CityBeat's Best Interior Designer in 2024, takes it from there. Rosemary's is inside High St., on the second floor.