Late nineteenth century Italian cornicello earrings, carved in coral and set in gold, in the form of the 'mano cornuto,' 'mano' meaning hand and 'cono' meaning horn, the horns as a symbol of fertility intended to ward off evil and protect the bearer, similar in symbolism to the 'mano figa,' a clenched fist with the thumb protruding, length 1 in, 2.4 grams, circa 1870. 

By 1860 fashion again favored hairstyles swept back away from the face and featuring cascades of curls, in contrast to preceding decades which favored hair that covered the ears. Fashion in hairstyles necessaraily affected choices in jewelry, with earrings being rare during the 1840s, but bursting onto the scene in the 1860s in innumerable forms and styles. The 1860s also saw a boom in revivalist jewelry from Etruscan to Egyptian to the Renaissance. Moreover, naturalistic motifs were popular during this period, and novelty jewelry took on new, unprecedented forms such as insects, fish, birds, flowers, lizards, etc. Earrings were immensely popular during this period and grew to enormous proportions during the late 1860s, with some earrings even resting on the shoulders.