with tiara, pair of bracelets, necklace, earrings and ring, red and clear stones, Egyptian style, signed, together with a rhinestone pin and earrings from the estate.......Corbella produced pieces reflecting a broad range of the past: brightly jeweled Egyptian-style diadems for Verdi’s “Aida,” a Viking queen’s gilded and feather headcrest for Wagner’s “Die Valkürie,” a 16th-century-style metal cuirass for Verdi’s “Otello” and a rhinestone-heavy filigree metal bra in the Mesopotamian style for Strauss’ “Salomé.”“Corbella used a remarkable attention to history in order to craft, but also to design accurate pieces for the opera, in a period when historicism was very in fashion,” said Piersergio Allevi, a historian of antique armor and weapons, and a contributor to the Corbella book.Instead of the gold and precious gems of real jewelry, or the steel of real armor, Corbella fashioned its sizable theatrical adornments in materials that were cheaper, as well as lighter (for actors’ comfort): plated brass and copper, wood, leather, rhinestones, glass paste stones, imitation pearls and all kinds of feathers, Ms. Corbella said.The workshop was founded in a period of upheaval that touched even the theater. In 1861, Italy was unified as a nation, and theatrical professionals began directing productions previously overseen by regional governments and nobility. Historical verisimilitude in costumes became important; the ancient world seized the public imagination and representations of the Renaissance were important to a country looking to a golden age for identity.“It’s a form of art,” said Stefano Papi, a jewelry historian, formerly of Christie’s and Sotheby’s, who contributed to the book. “They become almost like genuine jewels.”