A NEAR COMPLETE ELEPHANT BIRD EGG
MADAGASCAR, PLEISTOCENE PERIOD
£7,560
Classical Ancient Art // Form Through Time
Auction: Form Through Time - 21st March 2024 at 2pm
Description
a near complete specimen with all pieces from the same original egg, presented within a bespoke case
Dimensions
34cm high (excluding dome)
Footnote
Note:
The Elephant Bird, Aepyornis maximus, produced the largest egg of any animal that has ever lived, including the dinosaurs. Standing around ten feet tall and weighing half a tonne, the volume of an average Elephant Bird egg is equivalent to 160 modern chicken eggs. Native to Madagascar, the animal lived to well within human memory, only becoming extinct around 1200 AD. Indeed, during his travels to the east Marco Polo wrote of hearing tales from sailors about huge birds, these accounts are likely to describe the Elephant Bird.