Humpty Dumpty could have done with this kind of help when all the King's horses and all the King's men couldn't put him back together again. The biggest egg in the world is going on sale at the Chelsea Antiques Fair this week and is expected to fetch £5,000 for owner John Shepherd. The antiques dealer had very carefully pieced together the egg from shards and has admired the enormous 17th century ovum as it occupied pride of his place in his home for the last year.
However, despite his 20 year search for an elephant bird egg, he has deemed it time to pass on the pleasure of the egg to others and is hoping it will go to an appreciative buyer. It is, after all, the egg of the extinct elephant bird of Madagascar, a huge flightless animal that could grow up to 10ft tall and weigh up to half a ton. The egg has a circumference of over a metre - so the buyer will hopefully be appreciative and well-equipped with oversized egg cups to hold the thing in place.
Q. How did the Ouch! bird get its name? A. Because it lays square eggs.
