Australian Silver Emu Diorama on Blackwood Stand

• Diorama - When used in relation to antiques and collectables, a diorama is a three dimensional display, usually within a domed or rectangular glass case.
  
  As the feathers of birds are more easily damaged than the skin of an animal, most taxidermied birds are displayed within a glazed diorama. The birds will be set in lifelike poses in a naturalistic landscape, usually standing a branch within the diorama. Animals will be displayed set in the landscape they inhabit. The foreground will be set with gravel, rocks and bushes, while the background will be painted.
  
  While most natural history dioramas can be easily picked up and carried by one person, some larger examples were made that were suitable for display at exhibitions.
  
  The other type of diorama commonly seen is a model ship enclosed in a rectangular glass box, the ship depicted floating on the sea.
• Blackwood - One of the best known and most widely used Australian timbers, blackwood (acacia melanoxylon), is a member of the Acacia (wattle) family and grows in eastern Australia from about Adelaide in South Australia, as far north as Cairns in Queensland.
  
  The largest, straightest and tallest trees come from the wet forest and swamps of north-west Tasmania where it is grown commercially.
  
  Blackwood timber colours range across a wide spectrum, from a very pale honey colour through to a dark chocolate with streaks of red tinge.
  
  The hardwood timber has been commonly used in the production of furniture, flooring, and musical instruments in Australia from the late 19th century. However, the straight grain timber is not the most prized or valuable, that honour falls to blackwood with a wavy, fiddleback pattern, which is used both in the solid and as a veneer. Fiddleback was only used on the finest examples of furniture.

This item has been included into following indexes:

• figurines, animals and birds - silver items 156
• meat covers / food covers / dish covers
  • pewter 1,629
  • silver items 13
• silver table ornaments - emu and kangaroo 19
• silver, country of manufacture - Australian, unmarked 10