3-012-017 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Wedding gift to the Princess of Wales from the ladies of Victoria, Australia, 1864. 'It was determined that this gift should be of colonial material and workmanship and, after much deliberation, a graceful design, by Mr. Chevalier, for a flower-stand, 22 in. in height, was approved, the construction being intrusted to Messrs. Kilpatrick and Co., of Collins-street, Melbourne. Gold is the metal principally employed, but Victoria silver from the St. Arnaud district has been introduced into the base. The latter is triangular, each face presenting an enamelled shield with the arms of the Prince of Wales, of Denmark, and of Victoria respectively. At the angles are represented a bale of wool, a bunch of grapes, and a nugget, as typical of colonial industry; whilst higher up, as representing the fauna of the country, an emu, a kangaroo, and a lyre bird are grouped round the foot of "a tree fern." The stem of this fern is encircled by a clematis, and the expanding fronds which rise from it serve as a support for the flower-vases. These consist of five emu eggs arranged in the form of a star, each bordered by a wreath of leaves from the native flora, wrought in gold filigree. This wedding present was brought to England by the last Australian mail'. From "Illustrated London News", 1864.