The frogs were the stars in the glass case at the auction house. They were textured with tiny bumps, and gold-tone in color with tiny emerald rhinestones all over their bodies.
There was a paperweight mother frog with a toddler on its back, a kid frog with a magnifying glass and a baby frog with a letter opener protruding from its mouth. I found the desk set quite whimsical and fun. Apparently, another bidder felt the same. Someone had left an orange absentee sticker on the frogs, which were laid out on a tray in the glass case.
I’m not much of a frog person, but these little inanimate creatures drew my attention. As frogs, they reminded me of a frog sculpture I came across at auction some years ago. That elongated mother frog also had babies on its back, but that one was strange.
Googling, I found several of the desk sets on the web, one identified as being from the Bombay company, whose stores were once ubiquitous in the malls but are now closed. The mother frog was said to be a hinged trinket box. I found tons of listings for gold and emerald frog jewelry on the internet, from inexpensive at Walmart, eBay and other retailers to the more expensive, depending how much gold you wanted – and if you wanted diamonds in the mix.
I also found that these little make-believers mimicked some of their brethren in nature. There are several species of emerald forest frogs living in such places as South America and Mexico.
A couple years ago, scientists at the University of Taipei discovered a new species of tree frogs with green eyes in the moist forests of eastern Taiwan. The scientific name, K. berylliniris, translates into “jewel-coloured iris.” Their bodies are dark green or deep tan, although their belly and throats are white.
There’s also the green and golden bell frog, said to be as elusive as the green-eyed frog. Your chances of seeing either appear to be minimal. The gold and green lives in parts of Australia, and can be found mostly in lakes, dams and ponds.
Looking at the green and golden bell frog, I realized that nothing could match the skill of nature.
