Saleroom BONHAMS LONDON Polar peaks BY DAVE SELBY
Polar interest peaked in a packed Knightsbridge saleroom on 30 March, as collectors battled for trophies from Captain Scott’s fi nal Antarctic expedition, which ended in his death a century ago.
Star lot in the £750,000 auction was a farewell letter written by Robert Falcon Scott as he and his team awaited death in a tent after being beaten to the Pole by Roald Amundsen. One of many poignant passages in the letter, addressed to expedition backer Sir Edgar Speyer, reads: “I fear we must go… but we have been to the Pole and we shall die like gentlemen.” The letter, estimated to be worth £100,000 to £150,000, eventually sold for £163,250 as the value of Scott artefacts soared to new heights. Yet, if Scott was the fi gurehead and one-time schoolboy’s hero, it’s the remarkable photography of
Herbert George Ponting that brought the desolate beauty of Antarctica to the eyes of the world. Among his best known images is ‘Grotto in an Iceberg’, which, like many great photographers owed something to luck. By the time Ponting reached the ice cave, the expedition ship, Terra Nova, had come into shot. Less than an hour later the berg had spun round and the scene was gone forever. The spectacular (43 x 32cm) green-tinted carbon print, was expected to make £3,000 to £5,000, but eventually sold for £11,250. Ponting’s images might never have been seen at all, if the Terra Nova had not been such a stout vessel. The 187ft (57m) three-masted steamship, which survived two Antarctic winters before bringing the survivors home, was launched in Dundee in 1884. Originally built for whaling and seal fi shing, she was strengthened for hard use among the ice. When acquired by the British Antarctic
Expedition in 1909, her hull was further reinforced with extra oak planking. After nearly 60 years of strenuous service, she foundered off Greenland in 1943.
At the auction, a builder’s half- model of the plucky vessel sold for £10,000, while a photograph of the ship in dry dock in New Zealand in November 1910 made £1,500.
AUCTIONS COMING UP
Above: Herbert George Ponting’s famous image of Scott’s Terra Nova, in Antarctica
ANNE-LAURE NICOLAS BORDEAUX Big Brest
The 1963 Chris-Craft Sea Skiff , Big Brest, estimated at €18,000 to €20,000 (£15,000 to £16,500), is one of a dozen boats slated for the second classic boat auction put together by Anne-Laure Nicolas. The 9 June sale in Bordeaux is being held in conjunction with provincial auction house Jean Dit Cazaux. For more information, see
www.al-nicolas.com.
CHRISTIE’S LONDON Cowes conundrum
It’s Cowes Week, 1930; the King is in attendance on the Royal Yacht; and there’s a festival atmosphere as a one-design fl eet takes the start. There’s just one mystery: no-one has yet identifi ed the class. This bright and breezy 48in (1.2m) panorama painted in 1930 by Charles Dixon (1872-1934), is one of 200 works in Christie’s next Maritime Art sale on 23 May in South Kensington, London. Guide price £8,000 to £12,000. The three crew suggest it’s 6-Ms, to us.
CLASSIC BOAT JUNE 2012 33
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