The word Cho or Chou (蝶 紋) in both Chinese and Japanese indicates more or less the silhouette of the butterfly. And since the world of the fascinating East is the source of inspiration for Lebole Gioielli, here is a collection that takes up the shape of the butterfly. The Cho collection consists of asymmetrical earrings representing a girl-butterfly on one lobe and a butterfly seen in profile on the other.
It’s not all here: the butterfly, explains Barbara Lebole, represents the protagonist of an ancient oriental tale that teaches something interesting about the meaning of life. According to the legend to which the Maison refers, a man was widowed and had to take care of his two daughters. The girls, very curious and intelligent, continually asked questions to the father who was not always sure of giving the right answer. So the man decided to send them to live by the sage, in order to be sure that they were well educated.
To measure man’s wisdom, the girls decided to trap him by asking him a question he would not have been able to answer. The older sister went out into the open and after catching a butterfly she hid it in her apron. They decided to ask the sage if the butterfly in their hands was alive or dead and to act accordingly on the response. If the sage said she was alive, they would have killed her. If, however, she said she was dead, they would fly her away. With this trick, the essay’s answer would still have been incorrect. But the wise answered simply: it depends on you, since the butterfly is in your hands.
The butterfly, according to Lebole, represents life in our hands of ourselves. Who would have thought that a pair of earrings could give a philosophy lesson?
