Imperishable Beauty
From Boston's Museum of Fine Arts
176 pages; MFA Publications

Ruby-eyed dragonflies, nacreous orchids—nature meets exquisite artifice in Imperishable Beauty, a book of Art Nouveau jewelry from Boston's Museum of Fine Arts, where more than 100 of these exotic beauties are now on display. René Lalique and Lucien Gaillard are among the fin de siècle provocateurs who, smitten with the arts of Japan and ancient Egypt, startled prim Victorians with their sinuous, sensuous creations.