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A bird stump is a type of vase made in the shape of a tree stump with a bird sitting on or next to it. The branches forking from the main trunk are chopped off short and form tubes into which the stems of flowers can be inserted. The most elaborate versions have multiple branches and vines twining around the trunk. Bird stumps are generally made of ceramics like
A bird stump is a type of vase made in the shape of a tree stump with a bird sitting on or next to it. The branches forking from the main trunk are chopped off short and form tubes into which the stems of flowers can be inserted. The most elaborate versions have multiple branches and vines twining around the trunk. Bird stumps are generally made of ceramics like porcelain
Porcelain () is a ceramic material made by heating substances, generally including materials such as kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to other types of pottery, arises mainl ...
, though some are made of cast iron
Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impuriti ...
. They were popular from the Victorian period up through the 1920s in England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
.
A so-called bird stump (actually a " firugeal urn" 'sic'' plays a role as the MacGuffin in Connie Willis
Constance Elaine Trimmer Willis (born December 31, 1945), commonly known as Connie Willis, is an American science fiction and fantasy writer. She has won eleven Hugo Awards and seven Nebula Awards for particular works—more major SF awards than ...
's 1998 time travel
Time travel is the concept of movement between certain points in time, analogous to movement between different points in space by an object or a person, typically with the use of a hypothetical device known as a time machine. Time travel is a w ...
science fiction novel '' To Say Nothing of the Dog: or, How We Found the Bishop's Bird Stump at Last''.
References
English pottery {{ceramics-stub