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Abstract
The iconic dodo Raphus cucullatus once occurred on the isolated Mascarene Island of Mauritius, situated in the southwestern Indian Ocean. Mauritius was once a paradise for a unique flora and fauna that evolved in isolation for 8 million years. The dodo was sought after by seafarers who visited the island from the early sixteenth century onwards because we know from remains surviving in collections and a series of artworks that captive dodos were transported to Europe, India and Japan. This article presents a hitherto unpublished image of a dodo, preserved in the collection of the Trustees, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, Mumbai, the formerly Prince of Wales Museum of Western India. The bird is situated in a non-Mauritian environment together with other animals and it is named in Hindi. We further explore the background of this creation and its implication on the iconography of the dodo.
Acknowledgements
The authors thank Anthony Cheke, as reviewer, for pointing us in the right direction and offering useful comments and additions; Jolyon Parish for bringing Kaup's dodo to our attention and sharing his references; Julian Hume as reviewer for his helpful remarks; an anonymous reviewer for his observation; James C. Armstrong for reviewing the vessel movements; Menno Leenstra for giving access to the unpublished database of Parthesius 2007; Carel Richter of Rare Fish Books Antiquarian Booksellers Amsterdam for identifying the Raja torpedo and for his constructive comments; Salman Haider and Usha Kataria of the Library of Congress, New Delhi, for translating the Hindi inscriptions; Vandana Prapanna, sr. curator Indian Miniature Painting of the CSMVS, Mumbai, for extending information about the line drawing and generously providing the digital file of the artwork.