Rare dodo memorabilia collection up for auction

Summers Place Auctions is selling an enormous collection of dodo memorabilia

Dodo bones are part of a collection of memorabilia which is up for auction in West Sussex.

Late naturalist Ralfe Whistler's shrine to the extinct birds will be sold at Summers Place Auctions in Billingshurst on Tuesday and online on Wednesday.

Mr Whistler, who died in 2023 aged 93, amassed an enormous collection of dodo artefacts and artworks at his home known as Dodo House, near Hastings.

A shoulder bone found by George Clarke, who found the first dodo bones in Mauritius in the 1860s, and a letter from his daughter Edith are expected to fetch up to £10,000.

The letter says how Clarke found the bone in the Mare aux Songes, southeast Mauritius, and it inspired the explorer to search for more.

Hastings collector Thomas Parkin is believed to have given the 12cm scapular coracoidbone bone to Whistler's ornithologist father Hugh, who passed it on.

Lots in the collection include 150 paintings, prints and drawings and 20 sculptures of the bird.

Other memorabilia up for grabs include tea pots, mugs, vases, plates, tea towels, soft toys and a clock.

Other lots include a 12cm dodo shoulder bone and historically relevant letters

In 2016, Summers Place Auctions sold a near complete dodo skeleton, believed to be one of only 12 worldwide, for £280,000.

Director Rupert van der Werff said: "Ever since we sold a complete dodo at Summers Place Auctions, it has been a bird close to our heart and we know how popular the bird is.

"The bones and the accompanying letters are of real importance and we hope that they will find their way into existing dodo collections or encourage someone to start collecting dodo materials."