A FINE GOLD-MOUNTED TABLE SNUFF BOX MADE OF TREEN FROM THE 1...

Hammer

£2,400

A FINE GOLD-MOUNTED TABLE SNUFF BOX MADE OF TREEN FROM THE 1819 AND 1824 NORTHWEST PASSAGE EXPLORATION VESSEL H.M.S. GRIPER

dedicated as a 'freedom box' for the City of Chichester, the lid cast with the city arms, presentation inscription and vellum certificate inside to James Thompson dated 1828-9, the underside with inset gold ring inscribed This Box was made from a portion of the deck of HMS Griper CAPT. G.F. LYON -- 3½in. (9cm.) diameter; together with an engraving of Captain Sir Roger Curtis saving Spanish sailors at Gibraltar, 13th of September, 1782, from Raymond's History of England, PL. -- 10½ x 6½in (27 x 16.5cm.) framed and glazed

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The Arctic Expedition of 1819-20 was only the second such voyage to be officially sponsored by the British government and was yet another attempt to find the supposed North West Passage. Hecla (Lieutenant William Parry) and Griper (Lieutenant Matthew Liddon) left England in May 1819 and, by September, had reached Melville Sound where they found the way forward blocked by ice. Wintering off Melville Island, the two vessels were finally able to get free of the ice the following June even though, by August 1820, it was clear that no further progress could be made due to yet more ice in the McClure Strait. Thus, the expedition turned for home and made landfall at Peterhead on 30th October.

fine overall condition; the freedom certificate has one or two small fold cracks and the corners are raised within the box; 3.5in. tear mid left of engraving