£2,400
A RARE SILVER-MOUNTED SNUFF BOX MADE OF OAK FROM SIR WILLIAM PARRY'S ARCTIC SHIP HECLA, MELVILLE ISLAND, 1819
turned in two sections, the lid with inset silver plate inscribed THE HECLA / Captn. W.E. Parry / Melville Island / 1819 -- 2¾ (7.2cm.) diameter
H.M. Survey Ship Hecla (accompanied by Griper) was frozen into a makeshift harbour at the uninhabited Melville Island for ten months from September 1819 during which time they partly survived on tinned food, some of the earliest ever produced. Enduring temperatures of -54º F, time was spent putting on plays, producing a newspaper and, for those with access to tools, producing souvenirs of an adventure they already knew had secured them a £5,000 prize from Parliament for passing 110º West. They returned to London in October 1820 to a rapturous welcome having lost only one man.
Small chip to inside rim.
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