The extinct avian was the subject of the Persian-style lustre tile, left, measuring 6in (15cm) square, one of seven identically proportioned tiles decorated with birds in this sale, and all impressed with the letters DIP for the designers William de Morgan, Frank Iles and the brothers Charles and Frederick Passenger.
Produced sometime between 1898 and 1907, the tile attracted international trade interest above expectations of £600-800 and sold to a specialist London dealer at £1700.
Lively bidding for dodo
UK: IT may have been a touch risky for Phillips (15/10 per cent buyer’s premium) to illustrate a dodo on the front cover of a catalogue for the sale of 19th and 20th century design in Edinburgh on May 21, but thankfully for the auctioneers it proved to be anything but a dead duck when it came to the bidding.
