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Jolyon C. Parisn

Reconstructions of the Dodo

A4: A Catalogue of Reconstructions of the Dodo (Rapkus cucullatus)

Stresemann (1958) remarked that "none of the well-known reconstructions of the dodo known to me,
which are displayed in the exhibition collections of the grand zoological museums, seem to me to
correspond to reality" (p.455).

According to Krumbiegel (1940), the first museum reconstruction was produced in 1940. This was a
life-size reconstruction of wood supplemented with plastic and covered with feathers coloured to match
colours of the dodo, made with reference to Savery's illustrations (Krumbiegel 1940). At that time
there was no method to easily colour the feathers and the technician had to dye feathers individually
before inseritng them into the plaster body (Krumbiegel & Sehm 1986).

Mentioning the dodo reconstructions in London and Edinburgn, Renshaw (1921) stated that "the beaks,
legs and feet being accurately rendered in plaster, while the curious grey plumage has apparently been
borrowed from the crested screamer (Ckauna ckavaria)" (p.64).

Jenssen

At Hamel's request, Mr. Jenssen, a sculptor and pupil of Bertel Thorwaldsen, created a life-size plaster
model of the dodo, based on material collected by Hamel and coloured according to Savery's paintings
(Hamel 1846, 1847c, 1848, 1854). 1 It was intended for coloured casts to be made from this.

In the report of new acquisitions to the zoological collections of the Acadēmie Impēriale des Sciences
de S'-Pētersbourg during 1863, the director of the zoological and comparative anatomy museum, F.
Brandt (1864) listed a plaster model of a dodo: "das Gypsmodell eines Dodo" (col.323). Whether this
model was the same as that mentioned above is not known.

Abraham Dee Bartlett

The earliest mention of Bartlett's dodo reconstruction is evidently in a letter from him to Hugh
Strickland (Bartlett 1 899; D- 146):

"16A, Great College Street, Camden Town,
"September 25, 1848.

"Sir, - I beg respectfully to inform you that I have just completed what appears
to me a perfect restoration of the long-lost Dodo, and am anxious that you should be the
first person to see it. I shall feel much obliged if you will have the kindness by return of
post to let me know if there is any hope of your calling at my house for that purpose. You
may feel some surprise at the suddenness of this announcement and my not having
shown it to any one, or allowed any person to know it was in progress. My reason for this
was having long studied the subject, carefully examined all the parts, the paintings, etc. (I
visited the Hague last year for the purpose of examining the picture in that collection),
and formed my opinion respecting the bird, I commenced it at once, taking care no part
should be seen until it was complete, for fear the views of others might differ from my
own and I might be confused; again, the work being attended with much difficulty,
requiring considerable skill, much time and perseverance, I was fearful of being annoyed
by the impatience of my friends had they known it was in progress. As you already
know, Dr. Melville lived in my house several months and wrote the second part of the
Dodo book here, yet, to this hour, has no idea that I had it in hand. You will see that I
possessed peculiar advantages during the time Dr. Melville lived here, having the head
and foot from Oxford for his use, and he kindly allowed me to examine these parts
whenever I pleased. I thus had the opportunity of examining the head more than once in a
wet state, an advantage that may never occur again to any one (it was soaked in water by
Dr. Melville for the purpose of turning the skin over the skull to display the bony
structure). In this state it was of the greatest use to me, and enabled me to form a more

1 Contra Renshaw (1931), who stated that Jenssen created the model in 1848 in Copennagen.

Jolyon C. Parisn

Reconstructions of the Dodo

correct idea of the bird's head than I could gain by any other means, and I fmished my
model of the head before the real head left my house, so that I had an opportunity of
comparing them.

"I had an equally good chance with the Didunculus, which Dr. Melville placed
in my hands for the purpose of obtaining the skull and leg-bones, which I did and
afterwards replaced them. This added much to my knowledge respecting what I might
expect was the natural size, form and condition of the horny part of the bill of the Dodo,
and I fmished it accordingly, quite to my own satisfaction; and I hope when seen by you
and others competent to judge, it will be considered sufficiently perfect and complete to
justify the great amount of time I have devoted to it.

"I should feel much obliged if you would have the kindness to obtain for me a
cast of the Dodo's head and foot to put by the side of the model" (quoted in Bartlett
1899,pp.3-4).

It was recorded in Appletons' Journal for 1874 that "Mr. Bartlett, of the Zoological Gardens,
constructed a very perfect model of the dodo from a picture in the British Museum, aided by the
descriptions of older naturalists" (Anon. 1874e, p.222).

In a letter to Strickland dated 9 th November 1848 (D-147), Bartlett (from the same address as above)
writes that he had shown his dodo reconstruction to Richard Owen, John Edward Gray and David
William Mitchell (Secretary of the ZSL). He added that Mitchell wanted to exhibit it at the ZSL the
following Tuesday (Rookmaaker 2010), which was duly done:

At the meeting of the Zoological Society in Hanover Square, a model of the Dodo was
exhibited, constructed by Mr. A. D. Bartlett, of Great College-street, Camden Town, and
excited great interest. Among the gentlemen present we noticed the Dean of
Westminster, Professor Owen, Mr. Yarrell, Dr. Melville, Mr. Gray, Mr. Gould, &c: they
all expressed great satisfaction at the scientific accuracy displayed by the artist in so
perfect a restoration of this extinct but interesting bird. It may be necessary to state that
the last living specimen was exhibited in Holborn 200 years since, and the only preserved
skin was destroyed by fire 90 years ago, the head and foot of which alone were saved,
and are now at Oxford The model may still be seen at the residence of Mr. Bartlett
(Anon. 1849f,p.72).

Bartlett's dodo was exhibited at the Great Exhibition of 1851, in "Class 29.-Miscellaneous
Manufactures and Small Wares", North Transept Gallery: "291 BARTLETT, ABRAHAM DEE, 16
Great College Street, Camden Tow^-Preserver. A life-sized model of the dodo" (Ellis 1851, p.816).
Bartlett won a prize medal for his reconstruction. In the "Reports by the Juries on the Subjects in the
Thirty Classes into which the Exhibition was Divided" it was reported that:

A. D. BARTLETT exhibits an ingenious example of the art in the constructed figure of
the Dodo [...] The drawings of Savery, preserved in the Belvedere at Vienna, and in the
Royal Gallery at Berlin, and some remains of a skeleton formerly in the collection
already alluded to, of Elias Ashmole, consisting now but of the head and one foot-are the
data from which the figure has been compiled. The process is of course very different
from that of preserving a real animal, the skeleton and skin of which are entire: an
artificial body has to be constructed, and then covered, feather by feather, with such
plumage as is most in accordance with our knowledge of the bird. This has been very
skilfully executed; and the result, by the testimony of Mr. Strickland, and of Mr. Gray of
the Britisn Museum, "represents with great accuracy the form, dimensions, and the
colour of the Dodo, as far as these characteristics can be ascertained from the evidences
which exist," whilst it "does great credit to Mr. Bartlett's skill, and to his practical
acquaintance with the structure of birds" (Anon. 1852, pp. 1440-1441).

List of Awards: "BARTLETT, A. D., Great College Street, Camden Town, (Class XXIX,
No. 291). Prize Medal, for a model of the Dodo, and several excellent examples in the
higher branches of Taxidermy" (ibid., p.1443).

Jolyon C. Parisn

Reconstructions of the Dodo

In a letter to Strickland, dated 7 th September 1852 (E-0093), Bartlett (10 Little Street, Covent Garden)
wrote to Strickland that he was making specimens for the New Crystal Palace and that "the Dodo no
doubt will be there" (quoted in Rookmaaker 2010, p.46).

Bartlett's dodo was moved to the Crystal Palace at Sydenham and destroyed in a fire there in 1866
(Bartlett 1899).

Ricnard Owen intended to have models of dodos at the Crystal Palace exhibition, but these were never
completed (D. W. Naish, 16 th August 1995:

http://www.cmnh.org/fun/dinosaur-archive/1995Aug/0216.html [Accessed 13 June 2007]).

Graham Renshaw

Graham Renshaw created two reconstructions: a "Wnite Dodo, Adult Male" and a "White Dodo, Sub-
Adult Male". These were "Restorations after Holsteyn, Goeimare and Hofnagel". Figured: Renshaw
(1938, plate opposite p.86 [reproduced: Parish 2013, fig.4.27]).

In the list of donations to the Natural History Museum, Bristol Museum, it was noted that Graham
Renshaw gave a "Photograph of restored model of Dodo" (Bolton 1911, p.22).

Natural History Museum, London and Tring

The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD

The Natural History Museum (formerly the Walter Rothschild Zoological Museum), Akeman Street,

Tring, Hertfordshire, HP23 6AP
Model of the Mauritius dodo, and of the White (Rēunion) dodo. Made of plaster and polyester with
duck and goose feathers added (Kruyfliooft 1986). The dodo reconstruction was acquired in 1915 as a
gift from the Trustees of the Rowland Ward Bequest (Fletcher 1916). Harmer (1916) noted that:
"Among the more noteworthy additions to the Gallery may be mentioned [...] a model of the Dodo
(Didus ineptus) presented by the Trustees of the late James Rowland Ward" (p.67). Regan (1921)
recorded the acquisition in 1920 of: "A restoration of the Bourbon Dodo or White Dodo (Didus
borbonicus); presented by the Trustees of the Rowland Ward Bequest" (p. 1 14). This was obtained for
the Bird-Room (Sclater 1922). Ogilvie-Grant (1921) noted that the reconstructions of the dodo (Didus
ineptus) and Rēunion dodo (Didus borbonicus) were then on display. They were formerly housed in the
sixth bay, along with the remains of the dodo (Monro 1931). There are two photographs, dating from
1946, of the BM Rowland Ward dodo reconstruction, in the NHMUK Archives (PH/308/5, PH/308/6).
PH/308/6 shows the following label at the base of the reconstruction:

Life-size restoration of the Dodo.
The name Dodo is believed to be derived from the Portuguese Doudo,
"a simpleton". The Dutch called it Walghvogel, "nauseous bird",
claiming that no amount of cooking made it palatable.

Jolyon C. Parisn

Reconstructions of the Dodo

NHMUK dodo reconstruction. (Left: courtesy of Jan den Hengst. Right: © Jolyon C. Parisn).

The dodo and Rēunion dodo reconstructions are currently in a display case along with other extinct
birds in the Bird gallery (pers. obs. 1993, 2008).

Fortey (2008), however, gives a different origin for the NHMUK dodo reconstruction:

Halfway along the gallery is a fme dodo, the famous extinct bird, all decked out in
whitish feathers. It is, of course, a bogus bird, since no perfect specimens survive in the
collections. In fact, it was largely based upon a painting, which may or may not have
been painted from life. The feathers are stuck on. The talented modelmaker Arthur
Hayward [2] was asked to make the life-size replica in the early 1950s - and swan feathers
were just what was needed. to make the thing convincing. The trouble is that Thames
swans belong to the Guild of Lightermen or to the Queen. One is simply not allowed to
go and grab a swan. This didn't deter Barney Newman, [3] another of the Museum's
distinguished topers. He and an accomplice went down to Hammersmith Bridge and
grabbed a large cygnet from under the bridge where nobody could see what they were
doing. It was stuffed into a bag and thence into the back of an unmarked van. One
version of the story has it that they were stopped by a policeman while speeding back to
the Museum, and that Barney had to do creative coughing every time the bagged bird
struggled in the back of the van (pp. 279-280).

If correct, this could pernaps refer to repairs made to the NHMUK reconstruction(s), as the NHMUK
models themselves have an early twentieth-century provenance (see above).

Figured: Bellamy (1978, p.180); Geeraerts (1982); Kruyfliooft (1986, p.22); Fuller (2002, p.30); Den
Hengst (2003, p.102); Fuller (2003, p.40); Van Oppen (2003); Davis (2005, p.23); Grihault (2005,
p.77); Thomas (2006, p.22); Fortey (2008, p.280); Stoelinga (2008); Hume (2009a, p.53); Hume
(2009b, p.29). • Zoological Museum, Tring. Reconstruction of a dodo (postcard: British Museum
(Natural History). Card DPA 47). • Rapkus cucullatus, dodo. Mounted specimen of the flightless dodo,
now extinct (postcard: NHMPL, Natural History Museum 2004). • Photograph in the BM(NH) "Birds:
General Series (No. 1)" (c.1945) postcards. • "DODO (Didus ineptus) 1/10 natural size BRITISH
MUSEUM (NATURAL HISTORY) C22 Printed by Waterlow & Sons Limited" (NHM postcard C22,

2 Arthur George Hayward (early 20th century-1999). Model maker and taxidermist at the British Museum (Natural
History). He began working at Tring in June 1947 as assistant to A. H. Bisnop and transferred from Tring to South
Kensington in mid December 1947, where he worked in the Exhibition Section.

3 Barney Newman. British palaeontologist, Worked in the Palaeontology Department, British Museum (Natural
History)

Jolyon C. Parisn

Reconstructions of the Dodo

c.1960). • NHM Picture Library Images 30917, 47300-47313. Figured (illustration): Luna de Carvalno
(1989,fig.lh).

NHM dodo reconstruction (© Jolyon C. Parish).

The reconstruction of the "Bourbon Dodo or White Dodo (Didus borbonicus)" was presented by the
Trustees of the Rowland Ward Bequest. The accompanying notice reads:

Reunion Island Dodo
Rapkus solitarius
Reunion Island

(Model / life-size reconstruction)
(Extinct)

A close relative of the Mauritius Dodo, the
Reunion Island Dodo is known only from pictorial
records. This is not a real specimen, only a
modelled reconstruction.

NHM Reunion Island Dodo reconstruction (© Jolyon C. Parisn).

The Zoological Museum, Tring, also has feathered reconstructions of the "White Dodo or Solitaire"
and the dodo on display. The "White Dodo" has white plumage, pale yellowish wing, pale blue-grey
face and yellowish rhamphotheca and tarsi. The dodo has whitish and greyish plumage, pale brown
face, dark brown rhamphotheca and yellowish-brown tarsi. Both are "natural size". Krumbiegel &

Jolyon C. Parisn

Reconstructions of the Dodo

Sehm (1986) remarked that the dodo "reconstruction, in gray tone, is rather insipid, it is reproduced in
the guide of this museum (1979)" (p.24); it was mentioned by Lambrecht (1933). The two
reconstructions, along with the dodo skeleton, were part of a small temporary exhibition "The Secret
World of Museum Science", held at the museum from 16 th May to 6 th November 2011. Figured: Gore
(1989, p.699 - with several other stuffed extinct species, and Iain Bishop, curator at Tring; photograph
by Jonathan Blair). NHM Picture Library Image 31220. White dodo figured (illustration): Luna de
Carvalho(1989,fig.lf).

Tring dodo reconstructions (left and middle: NHM Picture Library. Right: © Sarah Hartwell).

Walter Rothschild exhibited a reconstruction of the female White Dodo based on a picture by Withoos
(presumably Withoos-NHM) and information given by Oudemans, at the 234 th Meeting of the British
Ornitnologists' Club, held at Pagani's Restaurant, 42-48 Great Portland Street, W., on 13 th November
1918. The colour of the basal half of the bill and the naked face were based on a picture by Holsteyn, as
it is "on a larger scale" and the other birds are depicted accurately (Anon. 1919, p.17). The
reconstruction was made by Messrs. Rowland Ward Ltd., under Rothschild's supervision (ibid.).

There is also a coloured model of a dodo's head and neck by Julian Pender Hume. NHM Picture
Library Image 39876

dodo's head and neck (Natural History Museum Picture Library).

Jolyon C. Parisn

Reconstructions of the Dodo

Reconstruction of the dodo, displayed in the "Extinction: Not the End of the World?" exhibition in the
Jerwood Gallery from 8 th February until 8 th September 2013. The model closely resembles Kitchener's
and has grey facial skin, white iris, brown rhamphothecae, brown plumage and yellowisn tarsi.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21351017 [accessed 7 February 2013]

Oxford University Museum

Oxford University Museum, Parks Road, Oxford 0X1 3PW

OUM no.21640 life-size reconstruction of the dodo made by Derek Frampton, taxidermist and
modelmaker of Kings Langley, near Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, 1998. The reconstruction is
reasonably accurate and has grey plumage, darker on the crown, dorsal parts and lower tarsus. The feet
are yellowish orange-brown, with black nails. The feet resemble the BM specimen. The primaries,
secondaries, and primary coverts are white. The skin of the face is bluish-grey; the fold of skin around
the rim of the face (forming the hood) is darker, and the rim of the mouth is yellowish. The irides are
white. The upper rhamphotheca is brown, passing into black near its tip and lower part. The
reconstruction measures 31 inches (78.7cm) long, 30 inches (76.2cm) high and 16 inches (40.6cm)
wide (OUM records). Figured: Fleet (1999, p.6); Gill & West (2001, p.154); Dissanayake (2004,
p.165); Lucas (2007a, p.83); Pickering (2010, p.29).

OUM dodo reconstruction (Left: © Ballista, from the English language Wikipedia. Right: © E. C.

Parish,31 st August 1999).

OUM dodo reconstruction (© Jolyon C. Parish).

Jolyon C. Parisn

Reconstructions of the Dodo

Grant Museum of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy, University College
London

Grant Museum of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy, University College London, Rockefeller

Building, University Street, London
Small model of the dodo, created by Tom Payne. It has black rhamphothecae, grey plumage with pale
grey breast and brown-orange tarsi and feet and was designed to be nandled by students. It was created
for one of three 'Hero' specimens on display (the dodo bones, the otners being the quagga and
mylacine): "Before the museum moved, [see Catalogue of Specimens] model maker Tom Payne came
into the museum and asked if there were any models he could make for the museum. After some
discussion we decided that we'd like to have little life models made of three of our highlight
specimens, the quagga, thylacine and dodo" (Carnall 2011). The specimens were acquired by the
museum in 201 1 and accessioned. Figured: Payne (2010, 201 1), Carnall (201 1).

Royal Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh

Royal Museum of Scotland, Chambers Street, Edinburgh EH1 1 JF

Life-sized dodo reconstructions (NMSZ 1991.022, NMSZ 1993.048) (Kitchener 1993a). "In 1990, the
late Marquis of Bute [John Crichton-Stuart (1933-1993)], then chairman of the Board of Trustees
of the National Museums of Scotland, asked me to come up with a new reconstruction of this
famous extinct bird [the dodo]. He saw a golden export opportunity in selling life-size models of
the dodo as patio novelties to wealtny Americans, though in the event only a few cuddly toy
dodos were ever produced" (Kitchener 1993b, p.24). The reconstruction was placed on display in
an exhibition on nature conservation, "World in Our Hands", at the Royal Museum of Scotland. It
was created by Derek Frampton: "I handed everything over to a brilliant taxidermist, Derek
Frampton, and after eight weeks of meticulous and skilled modelling, a new dodo was 'natcned'
in a barn near Hemel Hempstead" (Kitchener 1990, p.514). Figured: Kitchener (1990, p.513;
1993b, p.27). Figured: Gee (1990, p.513 ["Christopher Fransella/Raymond Fortt Studios"]);
Kitchener (1990, p.513); The Times (23 rd January 1992, p.5); Kitchener (1993b, p.27); Ziswiler
(1996, p.65); Fuller (2002, p.151); Den Hengst (2003, p.102); Fuller (2003, p.21); Van Oppen
(2003); Seymour (2003, p.41); Parish (2013, fig.5.50).

Jolyon C. Parisn

Reconstructions of the Dodo

Kitchener's dodo reconstruction (courtesy of Jan den Hengst).

Edinburgh also possesses an early twentieth-century dodo reconstruction (NMSZ 1915.53), made by
Rowland Ward and bought for £15 (Kitchener 1993a). It is similar to the BMNH dodo reconstruction
and has greyish plumage, a brown face, and blackish-brown rhamphothecae. It was mentioned by
Renshaw (1921) and was formerly placed in the "Extinct Animal Hall" (Department of Natural
History) (Muirhead 1953). Figured: Renshaw (1931 [reproduced: Parish 2013, fig.Intro.6]).

In order to determine the body-mass of the dodo, Andrew Kitchener created a one-fifth-scale wire,
cardboard and plasticine model (Kitchner 1993a). Figured: Kitchener (1993a, fig.3a).

Hancock Museum, Newcastle upon Tyne

Natural History Society of Northumbria, The Hancock Museum, Barras Bridge, Newcastle upon Tyne
NE2 4PT

A dodo reconstruction made by Eric Morton, an assistant curator at the Hancock Museum, based on a
skeleton, a cast of the Tradescant head and foot and contemporary illustrations. Morton made the dodo
reconstruction as the centrepiece for a permanent display entitled the "Living Planet" which opened at
the Hancock Museum on 2 nd February 1996 (June Holmes, pers. comm., 27 th March 2012). In the
exhibition, which concerned the extinction of species, a bell tolled every half-hour to mourn the
continuing extinction of species (Scott 1996). The reconstruction was constructed using a swan feathers
and skin (ibid.). Figured: Scott (1996, p.27).

NEWHM: AX7686 reconstruction of the dodo made by Messrs. Rowland Ward in c.1919. It was
presented by William George Armstrong 4 in April 1919 (June Holmes, pers. comm., 27 th March 2012).
In his "Report on Museum Work 1918-1919" E. Leornard Gill (1921) mentioned that Armstrong
donated a "reproduction of the dodo" (p.lxiii). It is recorded in the "List of Donations for the Year
Ending June 30th, 1919" in the same volume (p.lxiii). The model itself has a brown face, black
rhamphothecae, bill ridges, grey plumage with white tail (probably ostricn feathers) and primaries, and
brown tarsi and toes. Figured: Gordon (2010); Morton (2005).

NHSN Annual Report 1918-19, p. 10:

4 William George Armstrong (1810-1900), a benefactor of the Natural History Society of Northumbria and friend
of John Hancock (June Holmes, pers. comm., 27 th March 2012).

Jolyon C. Parisn

Reconstructions of the Dodo

A gift from Lord Armstrong which has attracted a good deal of attention is a clever
reproduction of the dodo made by Messrs. Rowland Ward.

RIGHT HON. LORD ARMSTRONG. - Reproduction of the dodo (Didus ineptus), the
work of Messrs. Rowland Ward.

Archive Collection NEWHM:1996.H305.3. Curator's Manuscript Report, 9 th April 1919 by E. Leonard
Gill:

The most striking acquisition of the month - in fact one of the most interesting of recent
years - is a reproduction of the dodo presented by Lord Armstrong. It was made by the
firm of Rowland Ward and is an excellent piece of work.

Hancock Museum dodo reconstruction (© Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums 2010).

Horniman Museum

Horniman Museum & Gardens, 100 London Rd, Forest Hill, London SE23 3PQ

NH.38.34 Dodo reconstruction made by the firm of Rowland Ward. It was bought for the museum in
1938 and is currently on display in the Worldwide Extinctions exhibit of the Natural History Gallery.
Measurements: without mount: 725 mm x 700 mm x 400 mm.
[http://www.horniman.ac.uk/object/NH.38.34 Accessed 25 October 2011]

Jolyon C. Parisn

Reconstructions of the Dodo

Horniman dodo reconstruction (© Horniman Museum).

Leicester Arts and Museum Service

New Walk Museum & Art Gallery, 53 New Walk, Leicester LEl 7EA

Reconstruction of the dodo. Exhibited at the Booth Museum of Natural History, 3 rd November 2001 to
27 th January 2002. Figured: Dodo (Rapkus cucullatus) (postcard published by Leicester City Museums
1999).

Leicester dodo reconstruction (© Jolyon C. Parisn, 3 rd November 2001).

Bristol City Museum

Bristol City Museum & Art Gallery, Queen's Road, Bristol BS8 ĪRL

Reconstruction of the dodo, currently exhibited in the World Wildlife Gallery (Trebilcock 2007) on the
first floor. The mount bears the following information: "Rowland Ward. 167, Piccadilly, London", but
no furtner details are known (Rhian Rowson, pers. comm., 14 th March 2012).

Jolyon C. Parisn

Reconstructions of the Dodo

Kendal Museum

Kendal Museum, Station Road, Kendal, Cumbria LA9 6BT

Modern reconstruction of the dodo made by taxidermist Carl Church of Pickering, North Yorkshire.
The following is Carl Church's description of the making of the model:

The high head carriage is an artistic interpretation and many skeletons are built this way.
The bird would be able to lift it's [sic] head correctly to a similar height as a pneasant,
but a more comfortable height carriage is shown in the recreation, being similar to what
looks natural and comfortable for a pheasant.

Many recreations have been made in the last century showing fully developed primary
feathers which seem incorrect for a flightless bird and old paintings from the 17th and
1 8th centuries show more of an undeveloped wing. The conclusion, therefore, is a lighter

Jolyon C. Parisn

Reconstructions of the Dodo

framed recreation, but not too dissimilar from the iconic image; a lower, comfortable life
like head carriage snowing a more inquisitive bird with the undeveloped wing referred to
earlier.

Using all the information I had gathered and my knowledge of bird anatomy, a scale
model of a Plasticine dodo was sculpted. Once the overall shape was achieved the pose
was chosen. Many recreation dodos are made standing, wnereas I believe a walking pose
would give movement and interest.

Happy with the fmished manikin the head and feet were removed and remodelled
separately. Slight alterations were made to the body to make the casting easier and a fibre
glass jacket was used to produce foam blanks.

The feet were made initially by moulding turkey's feet in a walking pose then using an
expanding process to increase the size and produce large life-like feet and these were
fmally cast in a two part plastic. The head was sculpted with apoxy over a cast skull and
modelled with the eyes removed. Once moulded this was cast in a two part plastic using
a swilling technique to produce a hollow head and the eyes were fitted from the inside.

Now all the main components were put together, the feet were attached to the body and
the head added to achieve the correct angle. Large sections of feamers were placed on the
manikin and working from back to front, using taxidermy techniques and featner
placement, the model was finally covered. Using historical descriptions and colour
shading from birds of a similar feathering, the head and feet were painted
(http://www.birdtaxidermy.co.uk/dodo_project.html [accessed 24 November 2011]).

Carl Church began working on the concept for a dodo reconstruction in 2002, but it was not until 2007
that he considered that he had sufficient information to begin making it. The first reconstruction was
placed in a large private collection for the first six months before subsequently being put on public
exhibition at Kendal Museum. It was displayed at the book launch of "The Kendal Museum Collection
of Fine Art Taxidermy by Henry Murray and Son", Volume 2, held on 23 rd October 2009, and was
subsequently sold to Kendal Museum. A second model was commissioned by the television cnannel
'Dave' for the programme "Alexander Armstrong's Big Ask", first broadcast on 6 th February 2012. It
was subsequently purchased by a private collector. Another was made for a private collection. Church
is currently working on four further dodo models, all in different poses and all for different
destinations. Church created new reconstructions of the dodo, including adult birds, a chick, and a dead
hanging dodo, which were exhibited for the first time in the "Great Dodo Exhibition" at Kendal
Museum from 4 th July 2013 (Anon. 2013). The exhibition ran until the end of October 2013. Bronze
casts of Nick Bibby's dodo sculptures (Pangolin Bronzes; see below) were also lent for the launch of
the Kendal Museum exhibition. In addition, a skeleton cast and a real bone were also displayed (see
Catalogue of Specimens).

http://www.kendalmuseum.org.uk/what's_on_130502_great_dodo_exhibition.php [Accessed 11 July
2013]

A limited number of dodo reconstructions are to be made each year (Carl Church, pers. comm., 17 th
March 2012). Additional information from: http://www.birdtaxidermy.co.uk/dodo-project/ [accessed
18 September 2012] Figured:

http://www.birdtaxidermy.co.uk/dodo_project.html

http://www.birdtaxidermy.co.uk/dodo_project2.html

http://www.birdtaxidermy.co.uk/dodo_project3.html

http://www.birdtaxidermy.co.uk/dodo_project4.html

[Accessed 24 November 201 1]

Jolyon C. Parisn

Reconstructions of the Dodo

Jolyon C. Parisn Reconstructions of the Dodo 15

Another of Carl Church's dodos (© Carl Church).

Carl Church's dodos (© Carl Church).

Gallery Pangolin

Extinct Species, Gallery Pangolin, 9 Chalford Ind. Estate, Chalford, Gloucestershire GL6 8NT
Life-size dodo sculpted by Nick Bibby (Pangolin Bronzes) in bronze. Carl Jones, together with
Rungwe Kingdon and Claude Koenig (directors of Pangolin Editions), engaged Nick Arnold, Errol
Fuller and Julian Hume in order to gather information for the construction of a model of the dodo and
other extinct Mascarene species. Nick Bibby, sculptor, then created the reconstruction, which was cast
in bronze. A bronze cast was placed on Ile aux Aigrettes (see below). The bronze cast sculptures are in
limited editions of ten. Its height is 78cm (Koenig et al. 2004). Figured: Koenig et al. (2004); Grihault
(2005, p.28).

Nick Bibby also sculpted the head of a dodo in bronze, 35cm high (Koenig et al. 2004). The
reconstructions were completed in 2003 (Jane Buck, pers. comm., 15 th March 2012). A cast is on Ile
aux Aigrettes Reserve (Mauritius Wildlife Foundation) and another is on long-term loan to the
Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. Figured: Fuller (2002, p.27); Fuller (2003, p.24); Koenig et al. (2004);
Grihault (2005, pp.6, 26, 142); Lucas (2007a, p.86); Whistler (2010, p.49).

Bibby's reconstructions of the dodo are probably amongst the most accurate.

Nick Bibby's dodo reconstruction in preparation (© Gallery Pangolin).

Jolyon C. Parisn

Reconstructions of the Dodo

Nick Bibby's dodo reconstructions (© Gallery Pangolin).

Nick Bibby's dodo reconstruction (© Gallery Pangolin).

Ashmolean Museum, Oxford

Ashmolean Museum, Beaumont Street, Oxford 0X1 2PH

A bronze cast of Nick Bibby's dodo (Pangolin Bronzes; see above) is on long-term loan to the
Ashmolean Museum of Art and Arcnaeology and has been placed on exhibition.

National Museum of Wales (NMW)

National Museum and Gallery Cardiff, Cathays Park, Cardiff, CFIO 3NP

NMW 15.12 (accession number). The Council of the National Museum of Wales purchased a model of
the dodo prepared by Messrs. Rowland Ward of London, "from publisned descriptions of the birds, and
from an oil painting now in the British Museum, by Roland Savery" (Proger & Paterson 1915, p.47), in
1915 (Peter Howlett, pers. comm, 22 nd March 2012). fiallett (1916) noted that on 8 th March 1915 an

Jolyon C. Parisn

Reconstructions of the Dodo

exhibit of the "preparations of this bird [the dodo] and the Greak Auk as they appeared in the flesh"
was made and commented on by William Evans Hoyle (p.98). The reconstruction is grey, with bright
yellow feet.

Hunterian Museum, Glasgow

The Zoology Museum, Hunterian Museum, University of Glasgow, University Avenue, Glasgow G12
8QQ

Small plaster plaque of a dodo. Housed in the Geology collection of the Hunterian Museum, Glasgow
(Maggie Reilly, pers. comm., 24 th April 2012).

Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow Museums

Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Argyle Street, Glasgow G3 8AG

Z.1928.6.a Plasticine model of the dodo, on display, purchased from F. Munro, Cambridge Street,
Glasgow, in 1928. 290 x 260 x 180mm (one-third life-size). It was purcnased with other models of
extinct birds (Richard Sutcliffe, pers. comm., 20 th July 2012).

Guernsey

A Guernsey resident and collector possesses an early model of the dodo by Rowland Ward (Alan
Howell, pers. comm., 8 th May 2008), which came from a member of the Rothschild family (presumably
Walter Rothschild), which was presented to him in the bar of a London hotel (Alan Howell, pers.
comm., 25 th January 2011). It was exhibited in a temporary display at the Guernsey Museum & Art
Gallery, along with the dodo bones belonging to that museum. The exhibition opened on 29 th January
2011.

Guernsey dodo reconstruction (© Alan Howell).

Jolyon C. Parisn

Reconstructions of the Dodo

Guernsey dodo reconstruction (© Alan Howell).

Natural History Museum, Dublin

Natural History Museum, Merrion Street, Dublin 2, Republic of Ireland

NMINH: 2000.4 1.1 reconstruction of a dodo in fibreglass, purchased from the German taxidermy firm
of Schlūter & Sons (ceased trading about 2006) (Nigel T. Monagnan, pers. comm., 19 th August 2010).
Currently housed in the lower gallery on the second floor. Figured: Monaghan (2005).

Dublin dodo reconstruction (© Nigel Monagnan, 19 th August 2010).

Jolyon C. Parisn

Reconstructions of the Dodo

Ulster Museum

Ulster Museum, Botanic Gardens, Belfast BT9 5AB

Lg7374 (accession number) reconstruction of the dodo on display (Alan Howell, pers. comm., 13 th
January 201 1). Purchased in 1934 for £35 from Rowland Ward (Angela Ross, pers. comm., 20 th March
2012; 26 th March 2012).

Ulster Museum dodo reconstruction (© Alan Howell).

Malmo Museum, Sweden

Malmō Museer, Malmōhusvāgen 6, Malmō, Sweden

Model of a dodo, in the Naturhistoriska Samlingarna, modelled with reference to Roelandt Savery's
paintings. The dodo was modelled in plasticine by Tore Kōrner and cast by preparator Lutz Pagel with
Tore Kōrner as co-worker. The background painting for the display was done by Ewa Scnandersson
(Hansen-Melander 1976). Figured: Hansen-Melander (1976: photographer Edgar Eriksson).

Munich

Zoologische Staatssammlung Munich, Mūnchhausenstrasse 21, 81247 Mūnchen, Germany
In the museum there is a life-size reconstruction of the dodo, made using goose feathers, exhibited in
the Zoologische Staatssammlung (H. F. Moeller, pers. comm., 26 th January 2001).

Hof-Apotheke, Erlangen

Hof-Apotheke, Susanne Dorner e.Kfr., Neustādter Kirchenplatz 2, 91054 Erlangen, Germany
Reconstruction of the dodo. Possibly a storefront decoration displayed by the apothecary (Edgar
Hellfritsch, pers. comm., 17 th February, 2011).

Jolyon C. Parisn

Reconstructions of the Dodo

Erlangen dodo reconstruction (© Edgar Hellfritsch 2002 http://dronten.de).

Museum der Westlausitz Kamenz

Museum der Westlausitz Kamenz, MacherstraBe 140, 01917 Kamenz, Germany. Fachbereich Zoologie.
MWK I 13607 Al (accession number) Dodo reconstruction (cf. Kitchener's), displayed in an
exhibition, "Tot wie die Dronte - vom Scnicksal ausgerotteter Tierarten" ["Dead as the Dodo - of the
fate of exterminated animals"], in 2006. The exhibition, prepared by museum zoologist Olaf Zinke,
opened on 20 th January 2006 and ran until 20 th August 2006. The dodo was made according to Zinke's
instruction by taxidermist Andreas Kleefeldt in 2005 and was based on a wire model and filled with
wood and gypsum. The reconstruction was based on a life-size photograph of the skeleton and a cast of
the Tradescant head (Olaf Zinke, pers. comm., 2 nd May 2012). The plumage, comprising dyed cnicken
feathers, was coloured in accordance with historical pictorial sources (Anon. 2006; Zinke op cit.).

Kamenz dodo reconstruction (© Museum der Westlausitz Kamenz. Courtesy of Olaf Zinke).

Jolyon C. Parisn

Reconstructions of the Dodo

Naturhistorische Museum Wien (NHMW)

Das Naturhistorische Museum Wien, Burgring 7, A - 1010 Wien, Ōsterreich

NMW 95.555 reconstruction of the dodo, created in 2011 by Iris Rubin, of the museum's taxidermy
group, using feathers of the following species: white domestic goose (Anser anser f. dom.): breast,
belly and wing; ostrich (Strutkio camelus): face, neck, feet; swan (Cygnus olor): back; white-eared
pneasant (Crossoptilon crossoptilon): parts of the breast, tail (Hans-Martin Berg, pers. comm., 8 th
October 2012). In 2011 the reconstruction was installed in a snowcase in Hall 31, displayed alongside
the skeleton of the dodo (NHMW 1.471) (Hans-Martin Berg, 9 th August 2012).

Vienna reconstruction (Bird Collection/Natural History Museum Vienna, phot. H.-M. Berg).

Jolyon C. Parisn

Reconstructions of the Dodo

Haus der Natur, Salzburg

Verein Haus der Natur - Museum fūr Natur und Tecnnik, Museumsplatz 5, 5020 Salzburg, Ōsterreich
Tratz (1953, p.34) noted that the display "Dodo oder Dronte, die flugunfanige Riesentaube" ["Dodo or
Dronte, the flightless giant pigeon"], including a dodo reconstruction, was set up again in a snowcase in
Hall 12. The current whereabouts of the reconstruction are unknown (Robert Lindner, pers. comm., 2 nd
September 2010).

Musēum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris

Musēum national d'Histoire naturelle, 57 rue Cuvier, 5 th Arrondissement, Paris, France
A model of the dodo in plaster and wax (although Renshaw (1921) stated that it was made entirely
from plaster), "approximately life size" (ibid., p.64). The plumage is slate-grey, the wing is pink, the
legs yellow, the breast brown, the head bluish and the tip of the beak yellow (Killermann 1915, p.370).
Killermann (1915) regarded the colour of the wings inaccurate. In 1901 the MNHN asked its taxidermy
laboratory to make a model of the dodo (Balouet & Alibert 1990). 5 The restoration of the dodo was
made by Jules Terrier, chief taxidermist of the Musēum, in the taxidermy laboratory of the MNHN,
based on the Paris dodo skeleton, engravings and Savery's paintings (Anon. 1903). Snufeldt (1901b)
reported that Terrier had 'recently' modelled a life-size dodo based on "bones of that bird and drawings
in possession of the Museum" (p.266). 6 Terrier's work was on exhibtion at the museum, at 31 Rue de
Buffon. Oustalet displayed the restoration of the dodo at the 67 th meeting of the naturalists of the
Musēum on 31 st March 1903 (ibid.). Four plaster casts of the sculpture were made, one of which was
given to the Sociētē d'nistoire naturelle de Blois (see below; see also La Rochelle). It was mentioned
by Renshaw (1921, who noted that it was displayed in a case in the main bird gallery alongside the
skeleton and a cast of the Tradescant head) and Lambrecht (1933) and is currently displayed on the first
floor room, the Salle des Espēces Disparues of the Grande Galerie de l'Evolution, along with Pierre-
Yves Renkin's dodo reconstruction (see below), a skeleton and some femora in a side case. Figured:
Renshaw (1921, p.64); Dissanayake (2004, p.165).

The MNHN dodo reconstruction (Renshaw 1921, p.64).

5 Although Balouet & Alibert (1990) mistakenly gave the date as 1801.

6 "coloured from the old painting by Roelandt Savery" (Renshaw 1921, p.64).

Jolyon C. Parisn

Reconstructions of the Dodo

A painting (oil on canvas) by Henry Coeylas 7 entitled The Reconstruction of tke Dodo in the Studio of
Professor Oustalet, 1903, Musēum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, depicts the model. It was
exhibited at the Grand Palais on l st May 1903: "417 COEYLAS (H.), rue Guy-de-la-Brosse, 9. - At the
museum; laboratory of taxidermy; reconstitution of the "dronte"" (Anon. 1903). Anon. (1904): "By
letter of 10 February 1904, M. the Minister for the State Education allots to the museum the tableau of
the painter Coeylas, entitled: At the museum. Laboratory of Taxidermy. Reconstitution of the Dronte"
(p.30). Figured: Ziswiler (1996, pp.60, 86); Fuller (2000, p.10); Fuller (2002, p.2).

Graham Renshaw presented a photograph of the Paris dodo reconstruction by Terrier to the Lord Derby
Museum, Liverpool, in 1910 (Anon. 1911). He also sent one to Robert Wilson Shufeldt (Snufeldt
1919).

MNHN dodo reconstruction. (Left: © Linēl, 13 th January 2008. Right: © Jebulon, 28 th November

2010).

Painting by Henry Coeylas, 1903.

7 Henry Coeylas (1844-C.1906).

Jolyon C. Parisn

Reconstructions of the Dodo

MNHN dodo models on display (© Charlie Meecnam, 22 nd November 2012).

Musēum d'Histoire Naturelle, Orlēans

Musēum d'Histoire naturelle, 6 rue Marcel Proust, 45000 Orlēans, France

Dodo reconstruction. A coloured copy of that in the Musēum d'histoire naturelle, Ville de Blois (see
below; Philippe Guillet, pers. comm., 22 nd May 2012). It is displayed alongside the dodo skeleton. See
La Rocnelle (below).

The Musēum d'Orlēans dodo model (© Musēum d'Orlēans).

Jolyon C. Parisn Reconstructions of the Dodo 25

Musēum d'histoire naturelle, Ville de Blois

Musēum d'nistoire naturelle "Les Jacobins", 6 rue des Jacobins, Ville de Blois, France

A plaster cast of the Paris (Terrier 1901) dodo reconstruction (without catalogue number), donated to

the Sociētē d'histoire naturelle de Blois in 1904 (Anne-Laure Paul, pers. comm., 6 th June 2012).

Citadelle de Saint Martin de Re

Musēe Ernest Cognacq, Ave. V. Bouthillier, 17410 - Saint-Martin-de-Rē, Ile de Rē, France

Citadelle de Saint Martin de Re dodo reconstruction (© Charlie Meecham, 12 th July 2012).

Musēum d'Histoire Naturelle, La Rochelle

Musēum d'Histoire Naturelle, 28 rue Albert ler, 17000 La Rochelle, France

Coloured copy (counterpart) of the Paris dodo model, a gift from the Musēum d'histoire naturelle
d'Orlēans in 2002. On display in the entrance area to the museum.

Musēe National Africain, Ile d'Aix

Musēe National Africain, 30, rue Napolēon, 17123 Ile d'Aix, France

The museum possesses a dodo reconstruction, collected by Baron Napolēon Gourgaud (1891-1944).
Between 1913 and 1931 Gourgaud brought back many animals from Africa, which he had stuffed by
the firm of Rowland Ward (Bergeron, et al. 2009). The dodo may have also been a Rowland Ward
specimen. The museum opened in 1933. Figured: postcard dating from the period 1918-1939: "ILE
D'AIX (Ch.-Inf.) - Musēum Africain. (Fondē par le Baron Gourgaud)" "Dodo (Scopus Ineptus)".

Jolyon C. Parisn Reconstructions of the Dodo 26

Musēe National Africain dodo reconstruction (Left: © Ji-Elle, 8 th May 2009). Right\ postcard from the

period 1918-1939.

Musēe PEspace Pierres Folles

Musēe l'Espace Pierres Folles de Saint-Jean-des-Vignes, 116 cnemin du Pinay 69380, Saint-Jean-des-
Vignes, Rh6ne, France

The dodo reconstruction was created for the Musēe des Pierres Folles by Robert Berthodin, technician
at the Musēe des Confluences, Lyon. It was made in 2008 for an exhibition on the great crises in the
history of the Earth at the Espace Pierres Folles museum in 2009-2010 and was given to the museum in
March 2009. However, in the next few months or years it may be moved to the Musēe des
Confluences, Lyon, currently under construction (Bruno Rousselle, pers. comm., 21 st March 2012).

Jolyon C. Parisn

Reconstructions of the Dodo

Musēe l'Espace Pierres Folles dodo reconstruction (© Bruno Rouselle).

Mr. and Mrs. Yves Walter gave Berthodin a mould of the head and legs of the dodo, attached to a block
of polyurethane foam. Berthodin carved the body, added the eyes and attached the piece onto a base.
He acquired the skins and feathers from two turkeys from the farm bio Uniferme. The skins were
treated in the worksnop of his taxidermist brotner, Claude Berthodin, using disinfectant and antifungal
chemicals. The feathers were wasned and dried and attached to the thighs and back of the dodo using
transleucent adnesive. Feathers were attached, one by one, to the belly, the underside of the neck and
the sides, fmishing on the head and back. White goose feathers were used for the wings. At least 400
nours' work were required to create the reconstruction (Berthodin 2010). A label attached to the base of
the display case reads: "Realisation et Donation Robert Berthodin Mars 2009". Figured: Berthodin
(2010, pp.15, 16).

Bruno Martin

The taxidermist Bruno Martin is currently working on a reconstruction of the dodo for a French
museum (Francois Meurgey, pers. comm., 6 th September 2012). His first reconstruction used copies of
an actual beak and feet (Bruno Martin, pers. comm., 20th September 2012).

Bruno Martin's first dodo reconstruction (© Bruno Martin, 10 th August 2012).

Musēum de Genēve. Histoire Naturelle

1 route de Malagnou, CH-1208 Genēve, Switzerland

Reconstruction of the dodo (no registration number), made in the 1970s by the museum taxidermist
Thierry Jaccoud. It is displayed in the bird section of the first floor gallery, at the foot of the staircase
(Musēum de Genēve. Histoire Naturelle: Fiches Thēmatiques de la Bibliothēque du MHNG N°2 Le
dodo: http://www.ville-ge.ch/mhng/divers/bib-dodo.pdf [Accessed 17 March 2006]) and comprises a
mounted specimen made with chicken and goose feathers with plastic modeling for the head and feet
(Manuel Ruedi, pers. comm., 24 th January 2008; Alice Cibois, pers. comm., 26 th March 2012) and has
greyish plumage, yellow facial skin, tarsi and toes, reddish irides and black rhampmothecae.

Christian Schneiter's dodo reconstruction

"La Filature", 2824 Vicques, Jura, Switzerland

Jolyon C. Parisn

Reconstructions of the Dodo

Christian Scnneiter, a taxidermist, created a dodo reconstruction, based on measurements of the
Amsterdam dodo skeleton and information from documents. He was aided by Ewold Horn, a Dutch
bird taxidermist. Schneiter used casts of the Amsterdam dodo skeleton elements. The musculature was
reconstructed around the bones. Schneiter and Horn then made a mould using expanding foam. They
reconstructed the head and legs from sketcnes of the remains in England and then made silicone
moulds. Wood straw was used for the neck. The body was covered with the skins of two unnamed bird
species (Packiry 2000). The reconstruction has black feathers. The model was completed in August
2000 and exhibited in the 8 th exhibition at Schneiter's workplace, "La Filature", along with more than
2000 taxidermied animals (http://www.arche-noe.ch Accessed 10 February 2011), where it is still on
display.

Zo61ogisch Museum, Universiteit van Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Zoological Museum Amsterdam, University of Amsterdam, Mauritskade 61, P.O. Box 94766, 1090 GT

Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Bird Department.
Information from the ZMA website [http://ip30.eti.uva.nl/zma3d/index.html Accessed 11 July 2005]
and Tineke G. Prins (pers. comm., 12 th March 2008).

ZMA nr. 8229: plaster cast of a dodo head made "in natural colours" with reference to the Tradescant
head by Gerardus Alfred Louis Bisseling (1901-1972), Den Haag, for Anthonie Cornelis
Oudemans. Received from the heirs of the latter on 18 th July 1932. Grey plumage and lighter
grey facial skin, yellowish iris, brown rhamphothecae, two bill wrinkles.

ZMA nr. 53381: life-size plaster cast of a naked model of the dodo

Model of the dodo (natural size) in the Museum v. h. Onderwijs, The Hague, 1935. Made by G. A. L.
Bisseling (Iconographia Zoologica: een papieren dierenrijk, Artis Bibliotheek, Universiteit van

Amsterdam).

ZMA nr. 55625: reconstruction of the dodo made of the feathers of Rkea americana. Based on the
Delft dodo skeleton. Made by the museum taxidermist Jan Hakhof from Nibbixwoud in 1994. Figured:
Van Wissen (1995, back cover [photograph: Mary Brommer], p.40), Ziswiler (1996, pp.62, 63); Aan de
Brugn (1997, p.3); Moree (1998, fig.4); Den Hengst (2003, p.102); Van Oppen (2003); Lucas (2007a,
pp.83, 86 [labelled as Kitchener's]).

Dodo model made according to information from of Dick Hillenius by Arend Soerink, 1967. Figured:
Den Hengst (2003, p.102); Van Oppen (2003).

ZMA 53381 and 55625 were made by the museum exhibition taxidermist Jan Hakhof for the 1995
exhibition "The Fate of the Dodo" (arranged by Ben van Wissen) at the ZMA (ZMA website; Tineke
G. Prins, pers. comm., 12 th March 2008).

Jolyon C. Parisn

Reconstructions of the Dodo

Left: Arend Soerink's dodo model. Right: the Amsterdam dodo reconstruction (courtesy of Jan den

Hengst).

Dodo reconstruction on display, Westfries Museum (© Pnilip Menke, 4 th November 2005).

Westfries Museum, Hoorn

Westfries Museum, Acnterom 2-4, Hoorn, Nederland 1621 KV

Dodo reconstruction featured in a permanent exhibition, from 1999 to around 2008, accompanied by a
Dutch edition of Jonstonus' work. The reconstruction, the same as the Amsterdam model, was loaned
to the museum by its creator, Jan Hakhof, for the display (Cees Bakker, pers. comm., 29 th June 2012;
5 th July 2012). Hakhof is currently creating a new reconstruction, which it is hoped will be exhibited at
the museum in 2013 (Cees Bakker, pers. comm., 5 th July 2012).

Museon, Den Haag

Museon, Stadhouderslaan 37, 2517 HV, Den Haag, The Netherlands

54790 (accession number). Reconstruction of the dodo (Arno van Berge Henegouwen, pers. comm.,
21 st March2013).

Jolyon C. Parisn

Reconstructions of the Dodo

Dodo reconstruction, Museon (Left: © Museon, Den Haag, 2005. Right: © Naturalis: dicnter bij de

natuur, 15 th April 2009).

Pierre-Yves Renkin's Reconstructions

Reconstruction of the dodo by Pierre-Yves Renkin (b.1960), Belgian animal scupltor, collector and
taxidermist, based on old engravings. The feathers, skin and feet were from bird specimens, the latter
from an emu. In 2006 Renkin received first prize at the European championship of taxidermists at
Langarone, Italy, with his dodo reconstruction, which is currently on display at the Grand Galerie of
the MNHN. This model is displayed in a room devoted to rare, endangered and extinct species ("Les
espēces en danger, rares ou ēteintes"). It has a grey face, yellow iris, dark brown-grey feathering on the
head and neck, grey plumage on the back, wing and tail grey and white, body and abdomen white,
breast and under-foreparts brown-grey, tarsi yellowish

(http://natureliberte.skynetblogs.be/archive/2012/01/26/paris-3.html Accessed 8 March 2012).

One of Renkin's dodo reconstructions was displayed in a glass case in the exhibition "Le Monde de
Pierre-Yves Renkin", January to 22 nd March 2011, Gemeentelijk Museum, Karrestraat 40, Sint-
Lambrecnts-Woluwe (Museum of Woluwē-Saint-Lambert, Rue de la Charrette, 40), Belgium.

A Renkin dodo reconstruction was exhibited alongside a collection of Roelandt Savery's paintings at
the Broelmuseum Kortrijk, 21 st April to ll th September 2011. It was similar to Rowland Ward's
reconstructions (Jan den Hengst, pers. comm., 2 nd June 2011) and was made especially for the
exhibition by Renkin, who had made several in the past. It is currently back in Renkin's worksnop
(Sylvie De Coster, pers. comm, 22 nd March 2012).

Jolyon C. Parisn

Reconstructions of the Dodo

Pierre-Yves Renkin's dodo (left: © Sylvie De Coster, in the Broelmuseum Kortrijk; right: © Charlie
Meecnam, in the MNHN, 22 nd November 2012).

Zoological Museum of the University of Heidelberg

The Zoological Museum, Neuenfieimer Feld 230, Heidelberg, Germany

The Zoological Museum of the University of Heidelberg possesses a life-size copy (made of chicken or
goose feathers) of the dodo exhibited in the Zoologische Staatssammlung in Munich (Heinz F. Moeller,
pers. comm., 26 th January 2001). It was given as a loan to Heinz Moeller of the Zoological Museum of
the University of Heidelberg by Josef H. Reichholf of the Zoologische Staatssammlung in Munich.
Unfortunately any potential documents relating to the reconstruction were destroyed during the
bombing of World War II (Josef H. Reichholf, pers. comm., 25 th February 2008).

Humboldt University Zoological Museum, Berlin

Museum fur Naturkunde Berlin, Invalidenstr. 43, D- 101 15 Berlin, Germany

ZMB 2000.26372 white unfeathered model of dodo. Coloured model of the dodo with green-grey
facial skin, umber rhamphothecae, yellow iris, whitish plumage, mustard-coloured remiges and
rectrices and yellowish tarsi and toes. It is shown standing on a rock. It is displayed along with casts of
Hesperornis in an exhibit: "Fast so schōn wie damals" "Die Rekonstruktion ausgestorbener Tiere". The
model was created by preparator Karl Kāstner in 1949, based on skeleton illustrations, casts of the
Tradescant head and artistic representations (Freydank & Haese (n.d.); text currently accompanying the
display). He created an unfeathered plastic body on which he stuck feathers of swan, duck, chicken and
ostricn (text currently accompanying the display). It is curated by the exhibition department (Sylke
Frahnert, pers. comm., 27 th April 2012). Figured: Freydank & Haese (n.d., p.78).

Berlin dodo reconstruction (Left: © Thomas Quine, 29 th August 2009. Middle and right: © Bianca

Bueno, 5 th October 2010).

Naturhistorisches Museum Basel

Naturhistorisches Museum, Augustinergasse 2, CH-4001 Basel, Switzerland

NMB 9-123 Dodo reconstruction, displayed alongside dodo skeleton (exhibition "Quagga & Dodo"). It
is a cast of that from the MNHN (Raffael Winkler, pers. comm., 16 th May 2008; 15 th March 2012) and

was provided to the museum in 1992

( http://www.nmb.bs.ch/ 1 3_ausgewaehlte_steckbriefe_aus_der_ausstellung_quagga_und_dodo_bedroh
t_und_ausgestorben.pdf).

Jolyon C. Parisn

Reconstructions of the Dodo

Nārodni Museum, Prague

Narodni Muzeum (National Museum), Vaclavskē nam. 68, CZ-1 15 79 Praha 1, Praag, Czech Republic
P6V-041251 Reconstruction of the dodo made by Rowland Ward, donated by Czech hunter and
traveller Alexe Taxise. 8 In an article in the Nārodni Listy. Vecernik-Nārod of 27 th December 1927,
Anon. (1927) reported that "[a] few weeks ago" the directorate of the Narodni Museum received a
letter from Alex Taxis, landowner at Louceni, in London at the time, stating that he wished to give to
Prague a reconstruction of the dodo. The gift arrived on 27 th December and was provisionally placed on
the second floor of the museum, in room no.13, case no.20. The reconstruction was made using pigeon
and chicken feathers (Obenberger 1935). It is currently on display with the Prague beak and Pezophaps
leg bones. It was exhibited (on loan from the Nārodni Museum) with Savery-Berlin at the National
Gallery in Prague - Collection of the Old Masters, Schwarzenberg Palace (2nd floor), 8 th December
2010 to 20 th March 2011.

Prague dodo reconstruction (Left: © Zdenēk Cnalupa, 2008. Right: © Kent Wang, 30 th July 2008).

Prague dodo reconstruction (© Zdenēk Cnalupa).

8 Alexander Johann Vincenz Rudolf Hugo Karl Lamoral Eligius von Thurn und Taxis (1851-1939). Landowner of
Lautschin (Loucen in Czech) and hunter, who donated animal specimens to the Nārodni Museum.

Jolyon C. Parisn

Reconstructions of the Dodo

Museo Civico di Storia Naturale, Milan

Museo Civico di Storia Naturale, Corso Venezia 55, 20121 Milano, Italy

MSNM Av 27995 Reconstruction of the dodo, similar to the Tring dodo, made by Rowland Ward of
London and acquired in the 1950s (Moltoni 1960; Giorgio Chiozzi, pers. comm., 17 th April 2008). It
was kept in snowcase 8 in Room VIII - Birds 2 of the Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Milano
(Guida del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Milano, 1977, p.94). Figured (illustration): Luna de
Carvalho(1989,fig.lj).

University Museum, Bergen, Norway

University Museum of Bergen, Universitetet i Bergen, Postboks 7800, 5020 Bergen, Norway
BM5180 Reconstruction of the dodo in the University Museum, Bergen. Made by Rowland Ward and
based on a Roelandt Savery painting of 1626 and the surviving head and leg remains. It arrived at the
museum on 16 th April 1918 (Terje Lislevand, pers. comm., 22 nd March 2012).

Jolyon C. Parisn

Reconstructions of the Dodo

Zoological Institute of the Russian of Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg

Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Universitetskaya embankment 1, Saint

Petersburg, 199034, Russia
Model (scuplted, not taxidermy) of the dodo (on display). Greyish plumage, pale brown underneath,
greyish facial skin, brown rhamphothecae, pale brown or yellowisn remiges and rectrices.

Natural History Museum, Mauritius Institute, Port Louis

Natural History Museum, Ground Floor, Mauritius Institute Building, Chaussēe, Port Louis, Mauritius.
Dodo Gallery.

Dodo model on display. The plumage was recreated using goose down (Marshall 1982). The dodo
reconstruction was "executed at the British Museum" (Tirvengadum 1980, p.ll). Figured: Maurel
(1995, p.12); photograph: Alain Proust); Clarke (1990); Keynes (1956, p.91).

The museum also possesses a dodo reconstruction by Andrew Kitchener, obtained sometime between
1985 and 1996 (Cheke 2003).

Reconstruction of the dodo in the Museum of Port Louis, based on information from skeletal remains
and old illustrations. Figured: D'Unienville (1949, p.50 [photo: Halbwachs]). Figured (illustration):
Luna de Carvalho (1989, fig.lg).

ile aux Aigrettes, Mauritius

A bronze cast of Nick Bibby's dodo (Pangolin Bronzes; see above) has been placed on permanent
exhibition on the Ile aux Aigrettes Reserve (Mauritius Wildlife Foundation).

Nick Bibby's dodo reconstruction (© Gallery Pangolin).

La Vanille Crocodile Park, Mauritius

La Vanille Crocodile Park, Riviēre des Anguilles, Savanne district

A bronze cast of Nick Bibby's dodo (Pangolin Bronzes; see above) was placed on exhibition at La
Vanille Crocodile Park. Whether this model was the same as that at Ile aux Aigrettes is not known.

Musēum d'Histoire Naturelle, Saint-Denis, Rēunion

Musēum d'Histoire Naturelle, Rue Poivre, 97400 Saint-Denis, Ile de la Rēunion

Jolyon C. Parisn

Reconstructions of the Dodo

Rapkus cucullatus

Uncoloured (white) model of the dodo - a reproduction of the MNHN reconstruction - on display
alongside the dodo skeleton. Figured at http://www.cg974.fr/mhns3v05.html [Accessed 10 November
2004].

In a letter from Paul Charles Ēmile Hugot to R. Cnauvancy, chief taxidermist at the Musēum National
d'Histore Naturelle, dated 31 st May 1960, it was noted that Jean Perreau-Pradier wanted a
reconstruction of the Rēunion dodo made. Hugot stated that "the Dodo of Bourbon was similar to that
of Mauritius, except with regard to the plumage, where the white dominated" (quoted in Brial 2006,
p.40).

Tkreskiornis solitarius

The Musēum also possesses a reconstruction of the Rēunion solitaire (Tkreskiornis solitarius) (Brial
2006). Figured: Brial (2006, p.46 [photo JIR 1999]).

Durban Museum

Natural Science Museum, l st Floor, City Hall, Smith Street, Durban, South Africa
Life-size. Bought by Chubb from Rowland Ward for £35. He had seen it in Ward's Naturalist Shop,
when he visited England from May to September 1920 (he mentions this in his monthly report of
September 1920). Once purchased, he had it shipped to Durban in October 1920 (Quickelberge 1987).
Figured: Chubb (1948, p.189); Quickelberge (1987, p.86); Durban Natural Science Museum postcard.

It was installed alongside the dodo skeleton after being in storage "for many years" (Anon. 1985). No
catalogue or accession number (being a display specimen) (David Allan, pers. comm., 10 th April 2012).

Jolyon C. Parisn

Reconstructions of the Dodo

Durban dodo reconstruction (© Jan den Hengst).

East London Museum

319 Oxford Street, Soutnernwood, East London, South Africa

Dodo reconstruction on display alongside a model dodo egg. The Board of Trustees of the East London
Museum provided funds for the creation of a dodo reconstruction, to be displayed alongside a cast of
the supposed dodo egg (see Catalogue of Specimens). Figured: Snales (2011).

Jolyon C. Parisn

Reconstructions of the Dodo

East London Museum dodo reconstruction (© Frode Inge Helland, 18 th March 2007).

Cape Town

[probably: South African Museum, 25 Queen Victoria Street, PO Box 61, 8000 Cape Town, South
Africa]

Adēle M. Fielde recalled a voyage she made in 1866: "I am tenacious of an inpression that I inspected a
stuffed specimen of the long extinct dodo in the local museum [at Cape Town]" (Fielde 1915, p.526).
However, given the early date, this was most likely a misidentification or misremembrance of a stuffed
specimen of another bird.

Phil Fraley Reproductions, Inc.

Phil Fraley Reproductions, Inc. Paterson Studio: 270 Marsnall Street, Paterson, NJ 07503 USA.

Pittsburgh Studio: 614 Braddock Avenue, Turle Creek, PA 15145 USA
In winter 2005 the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research, Singapore, commissioned Phil Fraley
Reproductions, Inc. to construct a reconstruction of the dodo (Lucas 2007a), with three copies to be
made (Lucas 2007b). The model was made by taxidermist George Dante.

A half-size maquette was created by Dante prior to creation of the full-size work. The head of the
reconstruction was based on a cast of the Tradescant head. The tarsi and feet were modelled after those
of a rhea and are thus not accurate. Julian Hume, Anwar Janoo and Patrick Rummans provided
information for the work. The Fraley model was nicknamed 'Clarence' after Clarence Sirisena of the
Singapore Science Centre (Lucas 2007a).

A six part composite mould made by Brian Reneski. Room Temperature Vulcanizing rubber was used
for the inner mould and fibreglass cloth soaked in epoxy was used for the mother mould. Each section
was cast separately and then assembled. The assembled cast was subsequently chased by Reneski and
Joani Turbeck. Due to the casting process the original clay model was damaged. Dante took
measurements of the eyes and eyelids from a cast of the Tradescant head. The eyes used were
Tohickson clear flint glass eyes, which were painted bluish-white, from reference to Mansūr. The
model was also coloured with reference to Mansūr, the colours being supplied by Chuck Brunner at
Smith Paints, and was painted by Dante over a period of two days. Reneski made a crate for the model.
After a period of nine weeks since the placement of their order, the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity
Research model was put on public display (Lucas 2007a, b).

Three identical dodo reconstructions were created. One went to the Raffles Museum, one to Jurong
Bird Park (see below) and a third to the Singapore Science Centre, being placed on display there in late
2006 (Lucas 2007b). Another copy was also made for the AMNH (see below). Figured: Lucas (2007a,
pp.82, 86, 88, 90; 2007b, pp.75-82).

Jolyon C. Parisn

Reconstructions of the Dodo

Phil Fraley Reproductions, Inc. dodo reconstruction (© Phil Fraley Productions).

George Dante's dodo maquette: figured: Lucas (2007a, p.87).

Julian Hume's correction to George Dante's dodo maquette: figured: Lucas (2007a, p.87).
George Dante's dodo sketcnes: figured: Lucas (2007a, p.87).

Jolyon C. Parisn

Reconstructions of the Dodo

Jurong Bird Park

Jurong Bird Park, 2 Jurong Hill, Singapore 628925, Singapore (run by Wildlife Reserves Singapore)
Reconstruction of the dodo made by Phil Fraley Reproductions, Inc. (Lucas 2007a). The Jurong Bird
Park model went on display six weeks after the Raffles Museum model (Lucas 2007b); it was possibly
acquired in August 2008 when the Dino Descendant project was carried out (Jing Yu, pers. comm., 4 th
May 2012). The reconstruction is currently on display at the ratites exhibit (Kelvin Lim Kok Peng,
pers. comm., 21 st March 2012).

American Museum of Natural History, New York

American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York, USA

Dodo reconstruction made by the studios of Rowland Ward in London and presented to the AMNH by
Walter W. Winans (1852-1920). Dr. Goode 9 had previously planned to create a reconstruction of the
dodo, but died before this could be carried out (Lucas 1918).

According to The National Encyclopaedia of American Biography (Anon. 1958), the American
ornithologist, Leonard Cutler Sanford (1868-1950), "collected many rare specimens for the American
Museum of Natural History, among which were [...] a reconstruction of the dodo" (p.151). Dickerson
(1915) noted: "A Restoration of the dodo has been presented to the Museum by Walter Winans, of
Surrenden Park, [Pluckley, Kent] England, and is now on exhibition in the bird hall of the second floor.
It has been suggested that this bird should properly fmd a place in the Metropolitan Museum of Art,
among the representations of figures of ancient mythology; but although there appertains to the
restoration no actual relic of any dodo, it is not a work of imagination only, having been prepared in the
taxidermy studio of Rowland Ward in London, from existing paintings of an actual dodo, the skull and
legs of the restoration being cast from relics in the British and Oxford museums. The accuracy of the
representation of the dodo presented by Mr. Winans is voucned for by Ogilvie Grant of the Zoological
Society of London" (p.373).

AMNH dodo reconstruction (Left: Dixon 1917. Right: © Jolyon C. Parish, 2 nd February 2002).

An article in The Evening Post: New York (18 th October 1915, p.9) reads:
IF YOU SHOULD MEET A DODO

It Would Be Much Less Awkward Now that the Museum Has Life-Like Restoration of
Him.

9 "Dr. Goode" may have been George Brown Goode (1851-1896), who worked at the USNM on some of their
displays.

Jolyon C. Parisn

Reconstructions of the Dodo

Dodos, which are now extinct, were almost so rare in their day as not to exist at
all. This fact gives more than ordinary interest to the gift to the Museum of Natural
History of a restoration of the dodo by Walter Winans, of Surrenden Park, England. The
Museum already possessed an articulated skeleton of this giant pigeon [...]

The skull and legs of the restoration presented by Mr Winans are cast from an
actual specimen, and the feathers are those of various birds of the same color (French
gray and white) as the dodo.

In 1917 it was exhibited in the South Central Wing (Birds of the World) of the museum (Pindar et al.
1917). In 1935 it was exhibited in the Flying Bird Hall, along with the reconstructed skeleton (Edwards
1935). In 1956 it was displayed in the Leonard C. Sanford Hall of the Biology of Birds (which opened
in 1948) on the first (ground) floor (Anon. 1956), and was still there in 1968 (the Biology of Birds Hall
being on the first floor of Section 19: Shuttlesworth 1968) and in the 1980s. It was subsequently on
display in the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Hall, Level 1 (pers. obs. 2002), but is currently in storage
in the Ornithology Department (Paul Sweet, pers. comm., 27 th March 2012).

It was restored in the 1970s by Stepnen C. Quinn of the AMNH, who cleaned and rebuilt its bill and
face, which had become damaged. It was constructed with feathers including those of pigeon and gull
(Stephen Quinn, pers. comm., 21 st March 2012).

The sign accompanying the reconstruction reads:

This model made by Rowland Ward, a well-known
Britisn taxidermist of the early 1900s, also closely
resembles Savery's Dodo painting. The head and
feet are casts, probably derived from a head and foot
preserved at Oxford. The feathers mostly from
pigeons, probably differ from Dodo feathers. Early
accounts of the Dodo report loose or downy featners
and do not agree on their color.

Figured: Dixon (1917); Pindar et al. (1917, p.51); Zimmerman (1918, p.330); Lucas (1920, p.50);
Edwards (1935, p.249: front and side views); Romer (1954, pl.33); Ley (1957a, fig.3); Shuttlesworth
(1968, p.13); Fuller (2003, title page); Dissanayake (2004, p.165); Lucas (2007a, p.86). • Actual
skeleton and life-size model of the flightless Dodo, first sighted around 1600 on Mauritius, and island
in the Indan Ocean (postcard: American Museum of Natural History. Photographs Jackie Beckett.
AMNH, New York, 1996). Figured (illustration): Luna de Carvalho (1989, fig.le).

Jolyon C. Parisn

Reconstructions of the Dodo

The AMNH also possesses a copy of the "Singapore Dodo", made by Phil Fraley Reproductions (Paul
Sweet, pers. comm., 21 st March 2012). This is not one of the three mentioned by Lucas (2007a) (Paul
Sweet, pers. comm., 27 th March 2012). The two dodo reconstrctions do not have catalogue numbers, as
they are not specimens (ibid.).

Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago

The Field Museum of Natural History, 1400 S. Lake Shore Dr, Chicago, Illinois 60605-2496, USA
Wooden model of the dodo. Boulton (1939) stated: "A restoration of the Mauritius dodo has been
completed by the writer and recently was installed in Hall 2 1 . Mr. Frank Gino has ably modeled and
constructed the restoration, and Miss Laura Brey has executed drawings and paintings to supplement
the exhibit" (p.l). The reconstruction was made with reference to the illustrations of the dodo by
Roelandt Savery (Boulton 1939). Anon. (1939) noted:

A life size model of the dodo, which became extinct in 1681, was made by Mr. Frank
Gino, WPA sculptor, under the supervision of Curator [of Birds] Rudyerd Boulton.
Dodos and their relative, the solitaire, comprise a unique family of birds related to
pigeons. Since there are no complete specimens in existence, it is only by resorting to a
reconstruction such as this that it is possible to make available in the Museum's
exhibition halls a representation of this bird (p.398).

Mr. Rudyerd Boulton, Curator of Birds [...] completed a new restoration of the dodo
from a fresh examination of pertinent data (p.389).

An important addition to the systematic bird collection in Hall 21 is a life-size model of
the extinct dodo, of which no complete specimen, or even skeleton, remains in existence
(p.328).

The Niagara Falls Gazette (28 th February 1939, p.ll) noted that "The Field museum's new sculptured
model of a dodo is based mainly on paintings by a seventeenm century artist who painted birds very
carefully." The model has grey plumage, a pale grey face, a red and black maxillary rhamphotheca,
pale orange-brown breast, pale orange-brown remiges edged in darker brown, white tail and yellowisn
tarsi. Figured in Boulton (1939, p.l).

Jolyon C. Parisn

Reconstructions of the Dodo

FMNH dodo model, c.1990, before and after. (Courtesy, The Field Museum).

Jolyon C. Parisn

Reconstructions of the Dodo

Carnegie Museum, Pittsburgh

Carnegie Museum of Natural History, 4400 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
Reconstruction of the dodo, purchased from the firm of Rowland Ward in the early twentieth century.
In the report of the Division of Birds is mentioned: "From the firm of Rowland Ward we secured two
reproductions, one of the Dodo and the other of the Great Auk" (Holland 1916, p.96). Figured in the
"Founders Day Report" of the Carnegie Institution.

The reconstruction is listed in the "Permanent Accessions to the Carnegie Museum. April 1, 1915, to
April 1, 1916" as having been purchased by the Trustees: "Ward, Rowland, 18 Piccadilly, London, W.,
England. Reproduction of Dodo (Didus ineptus), and Great Auk (Plautus impennis) . (5568)" (Stewart
1916, p.165). The reconstruction has grey plumage, a greyish face, pale yellowish remiges, curled tail
feathers and orange-brown tarsi. It is currently on display next to the California Condor exhibit.

Peabody Museum, Connecticut

Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University, 170-210 Whitney Avenue, New Haven,
Connecticut 065 1 1 , USA

[no catalogue number] Reconstruction of the dodo, purchased from Rowland Ward of London in 1961
by the Peabody Museum Associates. It was later 'remodeled' by the museum's taxidermist / exhibit
developer, David Parsons, apparently using cnicken contour feathers, duck wings and, for the tail,
curled egret breeding plumes (Kristof Zyskowski, pers. comm., 20 th September 2010). An old
exhibition label reads: "Left: Reconstructed Appearance of the Dodo. [...] a number of paintings of
living specimens were done in Europe [...]. These illustrations made possible the fme reconstruction
exhibited here prepared by the Rowland Ward Company of London. This mount was remodelled by
David Parsons [with turkey feathers (handwritten annotation)], and purchased and presented to Yale by
the Peabody Museum Associates in 1961" (Peabody Archives on YPM dodo specimens; the dodo
skeleton was displayed to the right of the reconstruction).

Jolyon C. Parisn

Reconstructions of the Dodo

mmmwmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

YPM dodo reconstruction (Jolyon C. Parisn, May 2001).

Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University

Museum of Comparative Zoology, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138-2902, USA
MCZ 336771 Dodo reconstruction with grey plumage and whitish remiges. It was made by the firm of
Rowland Ward Ltd., London, c.1900 and presented to the Museum of Comparative Zoology by Walter
Winans (Douglas Causey, pers. comm., 3 rd February 2001). The plumage is composed of chicken, duck
and egret feathers (Jeremiah Trimble, pers. comm., 22 nd October 2010). The accompanying notice
reads:

Model of Dodo
Rowland Ward Ltd.

England, ca. 1900

This Dodo is a model made in Victorian
England by Rowland Ward, Ltd,
probably the most famous taxidermy
studio of its time. Lacking real
specimens, the studio based this
reconstruction on written accounts and
crude sketches made by 16th and 17th
century explorers. Made of chicken
feathers, duck wings, and curled egret
feathers for the tail, this model is one
of very few still remaining in museums
around the world.

Natural History Museum, University of Iowa

Pentacrest Museums: Museum of Natural History and Old Capitol Museum, 1 1 Macbride Hall, The

University of Iowa, Iowa City IA 52242, USA
36155 Reconstruction of the dodo with pale brown facial skin, darker brown rhamphothecae, white
irides and white-grey plumage, remiges and rectrices. It has a semi-moulted appearance. The
reconstruction was made by Walter C. Thietje in 1931 in the museum's taxidermy laboratory, under the
supervision of the director, Homer R. Dill. 10 It was considered to be the only dodo reconstruction ever
made in the USA (Anon. 1931a). Dill thought that Rowland Ward's models (see below) were
inaccurate and undertook three years of data collection (Anon. 1941).

Thietje, who became Dill's assistant in 1929, later became director of UIMNH himself, in 1949.

Jolyon C. Parisn

Reconstructions of the Dodo

"I recall Walter telling me that the head and bill are carved from balsa wood, [11] the feet are from a
golden eagle, and the wings are from a domesticated chicken. Most of the downy body feathers are also
from the golden eagle (the main body feathers of the eagle were plucked to reveal the inner down).
After grinding down the talons, Walter built up the feet with beeswax to make them appear bulky" (e-
mail from George D. Scnrimper to Terry Brown, Museum Professionals Inc, 4875 Sunset Lane,
12/7/2006). The skin was glued with dextrin paste, acquired from Van Dykes (ibid.). The neck feathers
were from an ostricn (Anon. 1931a). Measurements from the FMNH and AMNH were used in the
construction of a plaster body (ibid.). Dill also acquired an old French print of the dodo (Anon. 1941).

According to the August 1931 University of Iowa News Bulletin (Anon. 1931a), "The University men
found in their quest for data that, among all museums in the United States, only the Field Museum of
Cnicago and the American Museum in New York were able to furnisn authentic facts" (p.5). Dill
remarked that "the restoration [...] resembles more closely the bird as it actually existed, as near as he
can tell by the facts he was able to gather, than any previous restorations" (Anon. 1941).

An article in the Lockport (N.Y.) Union-Sun and Journal (6 th August 1931 (evening), p.15) reads:

Dodo's Relatives Aid His "Revival"

10 WA CITY, Ia., Aug. 6 (AP)-The dodo may be extinct, but the famous bird
has been restored in all its glory.

What is believed to be the only restoration of the dodo made in the United
States has been completed in the taxidermy laboratory of the University of Iowa
museum.

The taxidermists used neck feathers from an ostricn, close relative of the dodo,
and the down from a North American eagle for the body covering.

The model was removed from display in 2007 for refurbishment and installation in a new display and is
currently placed in the entrance to the Biospnere Discovery Hub (Cindy Opitz, pers. comm., 14 th
February 2008). Figured: Anon. (193 lb, p.66), Anon. (1941).

Correspondence between UIMNH and Rowland Ward Ltd. records the proposed purchase of a dodo
reconstruction from the latter establishment.

UIMNH archives, Box 08: Rowland Ward Ltd. to Homer R. Dill, 27 th March 1931 (on Rowland Ward
Ltd. headed notepaper):

"THE JUNGLE",

167, PICCADILLY,

LONDON, W. 1.

The State University of Iowa, 27th., March 1931.

Museum of Natural History,
Iowa City,

U.S.A.

Dr.Homer R.Dill.
Dear Sir,

We tnank you for your letter of the 16th., inst . , and are pleased
to near the Great Auk replica attracts a good deal of favourable comment .
Enclosed please fmd a photograph of a Dodo replica, similar to the

specimen modelled for the British Museum, Natural History Section, South
Kensington, London .

We can supply a similar specimen for £37/10/- (thirty seven pounds,
ten shillings) .

We cnclosc also enclose a pnotograpn of a life-size replica of a
Moa (Dinornis) wnicn is ready modelled, and subject to being unsold we
offer it at £100 (one nundred pounds) .

11 There appears to be some confusion regarding the head of the dodo: Anon. (193 la) remarked that the
"restoration bears a plaster cast of the head, obtained from the American Museum [of Natural History]", wnereas
Anon. (1941) stated that Dill acquired a copy of a plaster of paris head made in Amsterdam.

Jolyon C. Parisn

Reconstructions of the Dodo

We supplied similar replicas of the Moa to the Royal Scottish
Museum, Edinburgn, and to Lord Rothschild for nis Museum at Tring, Herts,

The replica of the Moa offered above is a very striking exhibit
and we nope will interest you; it is a difficult specimen to reproduce .

Yours faitnfully,

Encs., [signed Rowl and Ward Ltd .]

JBB/IR.

UIMNH arcnives, Box 08: Rowland Ward Ltd. to Homer R. Dill, 7 th July 1931 (on Rowland Ward Ltd.
headed notepaper):

"THE JUNGLE",

167, PICCADILLY,

LONDON, W. 1.

7th., July 1931.

The State University of Iowa,

Museum of Natural History,
Iowa City,
U . S . A .

Dr. Homer R. Dill.

Dear Sir,

We had the pleasure of quoting you in Marcn last for
supplying a replica of a Moa and a Dodo.

The former we nave ready for delivery and tne latter is
partly finisned, and as it is the end of our financial year very
snortly we are prepared to supply the 2 specimens for tne specially
low price of £120 (one nundred and twenty pounds) , subject to your
reply before September.

A repeat of either or both specimens would cost the price
originally quoted.

Yours faithfully,

[signed RowlandWardLtd,]

JBB/IR.

Iowa dodo reconstruction (http://plantsarethestrangestpeople.blogspot.com/201 l/03/other-dodo-raphus-

cucullatus.html).

Jolyon C. Parisn

Reconstructions of the Dodo

In a letter dated 3 rd September 1974 (Box 75-01 041a), 12 Tony Whitaker of Georgetown, Indiana, wrote
to the "Director of Natural History Museum", enquiring as to how the Iowa dodo reconstruction was
made, as he was interested in creating one himself, having mounted animals for the Floyd Central High
School, New Albany, Indiana. George D. Schrimper, Curator of the Museum of Natural History,
replied in a letter dated 16 th September 1974 (Box 75-01 04 lb), giving details of the materials used in
the reconstruction, but advising Whitaker that the "restoration of extinct species is a very tedious
process and probably should not even be attempted unless one has a great amount of time plus the
necessary materials and skill to do the best possible job".

Joan Kent, of Cincinnati, Ohio, painted a picture of the dodo based on the reconstruction in 1 979 (letter
from Joan Kent to George D. Scnrimper, 30 th July 1979; Box 75-02 059a).

Iowa dodo reconstruction (Left: Anon. 193 lb, p.66; right\ Anon. 1941).

University of Nebraska State Museum

University of Nebraska State Museum, W-436 Nebraska Hall, 900 N. 16 th St., Lincoln, Nebraska

68588-0514, USA. Division of Zoology and Division of Botany.
1-3-37 (accession number only). The dodo reconstruction is currently housed in the northeast corner of
the first floor of the Morrill Hall (Thomas E. Labedz, pers. comm., 4 th October 2010; 25 th April 2012).
The following information is from Thomas E. Labedz (pers. comm., 4 th October 2010). The glass
manufacturer's buttons, one one each side of the upper face of the base, indicated that it was made by
Rowland Ward of Piccadilly (one reads "Rowland Ward London", the other "Rowland Ward [...]
Piccadilly"). Erwin H. Barbour, the museum's director, wrote to Rowland Ward in late 1936, asking
about the availability and price of a dodo reconstruction (University of Nebraska State Museum
Archives). The accessions book records that the reconstruction was accessioned into the University of
Nebraska State Museum on l st March 1937 and cost $150.00 plus $22.67 for charges. Figured: Wolcott
(1940,fig.314).

Bays Mountain

Bays Mountain is a nature preserve owned and operated by the city of Kingsport, Tennessee. The dodo
model can be seen at: http://www.baysmountain.com/exhibitdept/photos/dodo.jpg [Accessed 2
December 2001]

Registration numbers refer to articles in the UIMNH archives.

Jolyon C. Parisn

Reconstructions of the Dodo

Western Australian Museum, Perth

Model of the dodo made by the museum taxidermist Kenneth Gordon Buller (1915-1995) in the late
1950s. When casts of the head and foot of the dodo arrived in Perth Buller attempted to reconstruct the
bird (Ron Jonnstone, pers. comm., 16 th May 2008). Photo: K. G. Buller, Western Australian Museum
taxidermist, with a dodo, 2 nd October 1967, by Ken Hotchkin [State Library of Western Australia
281244PD].

Museum of New Zealand, Wellington

Museum of New Zealand (Te Papa Tongarewa), PO Box 467, Wellington, New Zealand
Dodo reconstruction (NMNZ S. 35520) with grey plumage, dark grey face, yellow rhamphotheca, white
primaries and yellowish-brown tarsi. It was made by Andrew Kitchener, Royal Museum of Scotland in
August 1997 (Alan Tennyson, pers. comm., 5 th March 2008). There is also a model of a dodo egg.
Figured: Farrar (1999, p.5); Shuker (1999, p.46); McGourty (2001, pp.16-17); The Times, 26 th June
2006, p.31.

Harri Kallio

Harri Kallio created one male and and one female life-size dodo reconstruction. These were mechanical
and could be put into different poses. Kallio used contemporary illustrations, literature and pnysical
remains (NHM, OUM, UMZC, Copenhagen and Prague collections) for information. He used the four
skeletons in the NHM, NHM Tring and UMZC collections for reference and Livezey's (1993) data for
bone dimensions. The head was based on the Tradescant head and the feet on the BM foot (cast BMNH
A.3509).

Harri Kallio's dodo reconstructions. Left: Les Gris Gris #3, Mauritius 2004. Right: Mont Blanc #2,

The reconstructions were constructed with an aluminium framework with stainless steel nuts, bolts and
springs. Soft parts were made from dacron fibre, fibreglass, chicken wire, cotton thread and latex
rubber. "Using the mechanical skeleton as a base, I sculpted the body shape onto it with chicken wire
and covering the resulting body with fibreglass. When the fibreglass had cured, I sliced the cast open
and removed the chicken wire from the inside. The leg and neck muscles were formed with dacron
fibre and cotton thread, after which they were covered with a latex rubber layer" (Kallio 2005, p.49).

Jolyon C. Parisn

Reconstructions of the Dodo

The head was sculpted in clay and then emended via several casting and moulding phases using plaster,
polyuretnane foam and three types of synmetic rubber. The head and lower jaw were separate. The end
product was cast in silicon rubber. The eyes were glass. The feet were sculpted is a similar method to
the head. The claws were cast in black-pigmented polyester resin. The plumage was composed of dyed
swan featners and the wings were made of goose feathers. The tail plumes comprised ostrich feathers.
The bird skins were taxidermied. The swan feamers were extracted and glued onto the reconstructions
one by one, with down filling in the spaces. The feathers and down were dyed.

Harri Kallio's dodo reconstructions. Left: Mare Longue Reservoir #1, Mauritius 2002. Right: Benares

Harri Kallio's dodo reconstructions. Left: Riviere des Anguilles #6, Mauritius 2002. Right: Benares #4,

Jolyon C. Parisn

Reconstructions of the Dodo

Upper rhamphotheca orange, blackish caudally; mandibular rhamphotheca blackisn; face pale grey to
pale blue-grey; irides white; plumage grey, more brownish on head, neck and thighs; remiges pale
yellowisn white; rectrices yellow or greyisn yellow; tarsi orange; nails black. Male with three bill
ridges, female with one. The back of head is perhaps too close to the skull, the inside of the mouth is
grey (it snould probably be red), the crop is only small, the leg feathering extends below or to the ankle
(not above it), the tail feamers are without barbules.

Kallio took two of his dodo models to several locations in Mauritius to photograph them in a
naturalistic environment.

Figured: Kallio (2005, front and back of of dust jacket, pp.8, 18, 45, 46, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 55, 56,
57, 58, 59, 61, 66, 67, 69, 70, 71, 78-79, 80, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 89, 90, 91, 92-93, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99,
100, 101, 103, 105, 107, 108-109, 110-111, 112-113, 115).
Online images at: http://www.harrikallio.com/dodo_index.html

Bill Munns

Bill Munns' dodo reconstruction was constructed using a cast of a skull as a sculpting armature and
with reference to Fuller's "Extinct Birds". The skull cast was acquired from Henry Galiano, owner of
the shop "Maxilla and Mandible" in New York. Munns sculpted a head (in order to cast multiple
copies), opened the eyes and inserted taxidermy eyes. He sculpted and moulded the feet and inserted a
half inch rod into each leg, through the foot, for mounting on a base. "[E]ach body was sculpted in
white styrofoam and then the head and feet added, and feathers applied. The short fuzz-like surface of
the cap and neck is actually a furcloth, not feathers" (Bill Munns, pers. comm., 20 th March 2012). Six
models were made and sold to museums and private collectors

(http://www.billmunnscreaturegallery.com/bmcgsite_009.htm [Accessed 31 July 2008]). 13

However, Munns (pers. comm., 20 th March 2012) only recalls making two (or three), which were sold to private
individuals.

Jolyon C. Parisn

Reconstructions of the Dodo

Chester Zoo

Dodo sculpture. Figured: Shuker (2010, p.278).

Geomodel

Geomodel, via Abate Tommaso, 78, 30020 Quarto d'Altino, Venice, Italy

The dodo reconstruction was made by the team of illustrators, artists and artisans of Geomodel in 2009,
under the scientific supervision of vertebrate palaeontologist Simone Maganuco (Museo di Storia
Naturale di Milano). The original model was made entirely in clay and the fmished product was made
of fibreglass and hand-painted. All available anatomical data were used for reference. It is part of the
permanent exhibit of the Extinction Park section of the Parco Natura Viva di Bussolengo (Figara, 40 -
37012 Bussolengo, Verona), and a temporary exhibit, "Dinosauri in Carne e Ossa" ["Dinosaurs in the
Flesh"], Museo di Storia Naturale, Florence, l st March to 2 nd September 2012 (Simone Maganuco, pers.
comm., 14 th March 2012).

Geomodel staff: Mauro Scaggiante (creative director), Davide Bonadonna (palaeoartist), Andrea
Leanza (sculptor, palaeoartist), Simone Maganuco (palaeontologist), Antonio Massari (scenographer).
http://www.geomodel.it/en/paleontology/Raphus-cucullatus/ [Accessed: 8 March 2012]

Jolyon C. Parisn

Reconstructions of the Dodo

The reconstruction is available from the company DinoCasts. 14 The webpage states: "The model, made
by fiberglass and mounting artificial eyes, are easy to assemble. Each step in the manufacturing
process, from anatomical drawings to the fmished 1 : 1 sculpture, are documented and made under strict
supervision of palaeontologists". Product ID: 884.

[http://www.dinocasts.com/prod_productDetails. asp?ProductId=884 Accessed 10 August 2011]
EoFauna

EoFauna Investigacion Cientifca, Easo, 27, 20006 Donostia - San Sebastian, Spain

Sculpture of the dodo, 1:8 scale (100 x lOOmm on a wooden base 85 x 100 x 15mm), "based on the

latest studies made on its body appearance", including Hume (2006). Sculptor and painter: David Zhou,

scientific adviser: Asier Larramendi (http://eofauna.com/en/esculturas/el-dodo Accessed 23 January

2014).

BBC nature programmes dodo model

Reconstruction of the dodo which can be seen at:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/programmes/tv/state_planet/picpops/images/prog3.jpg
Channel 4 dodo reconstructions

Recreations were made for the television programme on the dodo in the series 'Extinct' (UK television
Channel 4). Dodos were recreated using computer-generated imagery (CGI) and animatronic and static
models, the latter including a partial dodo carcass. The CGI was conducted by the hive animation Ltd
(VTR Plc). The models were created by the company Artem. Kate Dart was the production zoological
researcher. Information was derived from bones and reconstructions. The reconstructions were filmed
on location in Mauritius. See Gill & West (2001).

Figured: Gill & West (2001, front and back of dust jacket, pp.64, 65, 96, 97, 134-135, 140-141, 147,
150, 153, 156-157, 162, 168); Alleyne (2009, p.10).

Ray Holmes' Dodo

An e-mail from Ray Holmes printed by James Breese in the "Treasure Hunters" column of the Sunday
Mirror (16 th March 2008) stated that Holmes possessed an almost perfect stuffed dodo in a glass-
domed case. He added that it had been obtained by one of his ancestors sometime in the mid
seventeenth century and asked what its value might be (Shuker 2010). Breese noted that many dodo
reproductions had been made by taxidermists, but that because of the alleged provenance of the
specimen, Holmes should take it to a museum to be examined. Shuker (2010) and Cheke (vide Shuker

DinoCasts, Rua Francisco Sā Carneiro, n°6 R/c esq. Cod Postal: 2530 -108 Lourinhā, Portugal.

Jolyon C. Parisn

Reconstructions of the Dodo

2010) concluded that the specimen was most likely a reproduction. An alternative explanation is that it
was a case of mistaken identity (cf. Parish 2013, p.177).

Model of dodo egg

Figured: Grihault (2005, p.89).

Reconstruction of dodo footprints

Figured: Fuller (2002).

Rowland Ward

Rowland Ward's dodo reconstructions were made using plaster casts of modelled head and feet and a
body covered with feathers, mostly from grey chickens and geese. Complete wings of
chickens were used for the wings and the tail was composed of ostrich or abraded goose
feathers. In 1914 the firm Rowland Ward (Limited) was based at "The Jungle", 167,
Piccadilly, London.

Morris, P. A. 2003 Rowland Ward: taxidermist to the world, Ascot: MPM.

Model of the dodo

Photograph by John Ellison, 3 rd December 1963, of John Robert Russell and Nicole Russell (the Duke
and Duchess of Bedford), with a model of the dodo and copies of the magazine Animals, at
Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport.

Copyright © Jolyon C. Parish 2015. Permission is granted to duplicate "as is" (unedited) for
noncommerical, educational uses only, with the proviso that full acknowledgement is given (see below).
Excerpts may be quoted, with the above stipulation.

If this file, or part(s) thereof, is used then the preferred citation is:

Parish, J. C. 2015 A Catalogue of Reconstructions of the Dodo (Rapkus cucullatus), in The Dodologist's
Miscellany. Available at: http://sites.google.com/site/dodologistsmiscellany/ [date accessed]

26-January-2015

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