Sunday Interiors
,
Sunday 22nd June 2014 at 11.30am
11
25
A LATE VICTORIAN CIRCULAR PUNCH
BOWL,
London 1898, mark of William Hutton & Sons Ltd., with
reeded rims, wyvern demi fluted embossed body engraved
“to Captain T.H. Crozier, from a few friends at the Artillery
College”, raised on a circular spreading foot (c.19ozs). 15cm
high, 23.5cm diameter
Provenance: the family of Captain Francis Crozier, by
descent
The famous Arctic explorer, Francis Crozier (1796-1896)
was born in Banbridge and lived in Avonmore House
which still stands today and is now called Crozier House,
opposite a large memorial erected for him there.
Age 13, Crozier volunteered for the Royal Navy and joined
HMS Hamadryad. In 1812 he served on HMS Briton and
in 1814 visited Pitccairn Island. In 1821 he volunteered to
join Captain William Edward Parry’s second expedition
(1821-23) to find the Northwest Passage. He returned to
the Arctic with Parry in 1824, which resulted in the loss
of their vessel Fury off Somerset Island. Crozier was pro-
moted to the rank of lieutenant in 1826 and in 1827 joined
Parry’s failed attempt to reach the North Pole. At this time
he became close friends with James Clark Ross.
Crozier climbed up the ranks and discovered much, he was
appointed the rank of commander in 1837. In 1839 Crozier
joined James Clark Ross, as second-in-command where
they made a significant penetration of the Antarctic pack
ice and discovered large parts of the continent.
In 1845, he joined the Franklin expedition of the Northwest
Passage. This was to be Croziers final expedition. Two ves-
sels set sail, the HMS Terror captained by Crozier and HMS
Erebus captained by Sir John Franklin. When Franklin died
in 1847, Crozier took command of the expedition and led
the battle to survive in the arctic wilderness. It lasted for
years and it is said that the remaining men had to resort
to cannibalism, Crozier was said to be the last to die. The
expedition was detailed in an autobiography written by
Martin Smith in 2007 titled ‘Last Man Standing’.
€500 - 1000
26
A PAIR OF GEORGE III SILVER FIDDLE
PATTERN SAUCE LADLES,
London 1811 & 1812, mark TJ, handles crested (c.4ozs)
Provenance: the family of Captain Francis Crozier, by
descent
€150 - 250
