POWERHOUSE COLLECTION

Carved emu egg by Jonaski Takuma

Object No. A9407

This is an excellent example of the late 19th century and early 20th century Australian craft of carving emu egg shells in the cameo technique for sale as gifts and ornaments. Many were subsequently set in silver or electroplated-silver mounts. This continued a colonial tradition developed in Australia by immigrant silversmiths in the early 1800s. A small number of carved eggs were taken to England and Europe in the mid-late 1800s where they were mounted in silver by local silversmiths. While carved emu eggs of the period can rarely be attributed to individual makers, it is known that this piece was designed and crafted by Jonaski Takuma, a Japanese craftsman working in Sydney. The carved scene is signed with his name. Takuma worked as an egg carver between about 1893 and 1910 and had a shop in Sydney's Imperial Arcade. The nationalistic spirit of these objects is evident in the choice of material and Australian scenery, both bushland and urban, most often depicting Australian Aborigines, settlers and Australian fauna. This example features a bush scene with two bearded men sitting at a campfire, smoking pipes and making billy tea in a billycan. Takuma also used his talents for design and story-telling to write a children's story "Kookaburra, the Laughing Jackass and the Black Snake" in 1896 ( Published by Geo Robertson & Co). It is not certain whether the story was written around existing carved egg designs, or whether eggs were carved to illustrate the story. Eva Czernis-Ryl October 2008