Sir John Franklin, owner
England
circa 1845
Caribbean mahogany with brass mounts and baize lining
6 x 9 x 18.5 in
This portable writing desk is made of figured Caribbean mahogany, bound at the corners and along the edges with brass mounts and fitted with a recessed brass carrying handle at the side. It opens on brass hinges to a sloped writing surface lined in green baize across two leaves, with a compartment behind the flap divided into sections for pens and ink and a small drawer running out from the side. The mahogany has darkened to a deep reddish brown with age and shows scattered scratches and knocks, and the baize is worn and marked with a split along the centre join.
An old hand lettered label accompanies the desk, reading that it was once the property of Sir John Franklin, the Polar Explorer, who perished with his ship's company, dated circa 1845. Desks of this form were carried by naval officers through the nineteenth century, holding paper, ink, and correspondence and providing a writing surface in a cabin. The desk measures 18.5 inches wide and is accompanied by the 1969 auction card.
Sir John Franklin (1786 to 1847) was a Royal Navy officer and Arctic explorer who served at Copenhagen and Trafalgar before leading overland and seaborne expeditions to the Canadian Arctic in the 1810s and 1820s. He was Lieutenant Governor of Van Diemen's Land from 1837 to 1843, and in 1845 sailed from England in command of HMS Erebus and HMS Terror in search of the Northwest Passage. The ships were lost with all hands, and the searches mounted for them over the following decades charted much of the Canadian Arctic. The wrecks of both vessels were located in Nunavut waters in 2014 and 2016.
Provenance: Littlehampton Museum, United Kingdom; sold 19 March 1969 by Hexton and Cheney Auction Room, with the card; Finch and Co, London.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
Sir John Franklin, owner
England
circa 1845
Caribbean mahogany with brass mounts and baize lining
6 x 9 x 18.5 in
This portable writing desk is made of figured Caribbean mahogany, bound at the corners and along the edges with brass mounts and fitted with a recessed brass carrying handle at the side. It opens on brass hinges to a sloped writing surface lined in green baize across two leaves, with a compartment behind the flap divided into sections for pens and ink and a small drawer running out from the side. The mahogany has darkened to a deep reddish brown with age and shows scattered scratches and knocks, and the baize is worn and marked with a split along the centre join.
An old hand lettered label accompanies the desk, reading that it was once the property of Sir John Franklin, the Polar Explorer, who perished with his ship's company, dated circa 1845. Desks of this form were carried by naval officers through the nineteenth century, holding paper, ink, and correspondence and providing a writing surface in a cabin. The desk measures 18.5 inches wide and is accompanied by the 1969 auction card.
Sir John Franklin (1786 to 1847) was a Royal Navy officer and Arctic explorer who served at Copenhagen and Trafalgar before leading overland and seaborne expeditions to the Canadian Arctic in the 1810s and 1820s. He was Lieutenant Governor of Van Diemen's Land from 1837 to 1843, and in 1845 sailed from England in command of HMS Erebus and HMS Terror in search of the Northwest Passage. The ships were lost with all hands, and the searches mounted for them over the following decades charted much of the Canadian Arctic. The wrecks of both vessels were located in Nunavut waters in 2014 and 2016.
Provenance: Littlehampton Museum, United Kingdom; sold 19 March 1969 by Hexton and Cheney Auction Room, with the card; Finch and Co, London.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
