Expedition and explorer memorabilia often draw much excitement from collectors and museums, particularly polar exploration, which continues to be historically and environmentally significant.
17/09/2024 Collectors' Items, Fine Art
Indeed, such memorabilia always sells well at Cheffins auctions. For example, earlier this year, a map of the North Pole dating to the 1870s and annotated in ink by John Rae (1813-1893), the explorer and surgeon, went under the hammer for £8,000. He had carefully marked his tracks and routes with dates on the map, and the rare discovery provided an interesting slice of history.
In 2018, Cheffins sold Frank Debenham's Antarctic expedition ice pick for £22,000 (pictured below), far exceeding its £200-£400 estimate. Debenham was an Antarctic scientist and geographer, and first director of the Scott Polar Research Institute in Cambridge. He was part of Captain Scott's Terra Nova British Antarctic Expedition of 1910-13 and made extensive geological and topographical surveys of the mountains and glaciers west of McMurdo Sound. The axe was a gift from Debenham to his friend and neighbour in Cambridge, Victor de la Perrelle. Items dating back to early expeditions are incredibly rare to the open market, so it attracted a lot of attention.
Beyond expedition items, collectables relating to explorers and their ventures are also of much interest. As such, we are delighted to be offering a very rare Heyde Ernest Shackleton 1908 Antarctic Exploration Set in our upcoming Fine Sale (18th and 19th September – Lot 609). It comprises twenty-five hand-painted 50mm lead figures including Shackleton waving his hat, a man carrying a Union Jack (wrongly painted), a man on skis, sledges loaded with equipment, horses, dogs, penguins and a tinplate boat, ‘Nimrod’.
Sir Ernest Shackleton (1874-1922) participated in four expeditions to the Antarctic during the 'Heroic Age' of Antarctic exploration, leading three of them. He was an impressive leader, known for his bravery and ability to build camaraderie in his crews.
A Heyde Ernest Shackleton 1908 Antarctic Exploration Set, set to be auctioned in the Sept Fine Sale
Brett Tryner, Director at Cheffins, comments: “Explorer memorabilia is a particular collector favourite, thanks to its historical significance and rarity, as well as the admiration for the courage and endurance of those who undertook these incredible expeditions.”