Dinosauriana Imagined 11

Dinosauriana Austriana (A Tiere-ful Endeavor)

- Robert Telleria

There's a tiere in my coffee. One of the only examples of Austrian dinosaurian is the sixth series of the “Tiere” (Animal Life) premiums, made possibly by Manurba of W. Germany, for Linde Kaffee, an Austrian manufacturer of coffee products. The eight miniatures came in various marbled green and brown plastic. Clearly they were based on Rudolph Zallinger's 1947 “Age of Reptiles” mural, widely seen in the 1953 Life Magazine series The World We Live In. Along with other manufacturers' prehistoric product lines, Linde's 'Saurier' set followed this publication (c. 1956) and are mostly rather faithful likenesses. In the painting, Rhamphorhynchus is quite small and depicted in flight but yet the artists behind this figure chose a standing depiction. Pot-bellied Tyrannosaurus is given large back scutes. Ankylosaurus and Triceratops with its long curved horns deviate artistically somewhat from Zallinger's art, while more recognizable are the iconic, long-trunked Stegosaurus and Brontosaurus, free-standing, unlike its swamp-dwelling inspiration. Also supplied are two of three of the mural's pelycosaurs, high-sail Dimetrodon and the short-sail Sphenacodon.