Franklin relics, Polar Equipment and Relics
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Wooden clothes brush with ivory veneer.

AAA2113
Franklin relics

Object connections:

Collection Franklin relics, Polar Equipment and Relics
Gallery locationNot on display
PeopleProvenance: Peglar, Henry Peter
Provenance: Armitage, Thomas
EventsArctic Exploration: Franklin Search Expedition, McClintock, 1857-1859, Arctic Exploration: Franklin's Last Expedition, 1845-1848
VesselsFox (1855)

Object details:

Object ID AAA2113
Description A clothes brush from the 1845 British Northwest Passage Expedition led by Sir John Franklin. The brush has a wooden back with an ivory veneer and may have been carried to remove snow from clothing. It is shown in 'The Illustrated London News' 15 October 1859, p. 363. The clothes brush was found with the skeleton located about nine miles east of Cape Herschel by Captain F. L. McClintock's sledge team on 25 May 1859, as part of the search expedition led by him from the 'Fox'. McClintock described finding a skeleton 'lying upon its face'. Initially the skeleton was identified as Henry Peter Peglar (1811-1848), Captain of the Foretop, HMS Terror, due to the contents of the pocket book relating to Peglar. However, it is now believed to be that of his friend Thomas Armitage (c1807-1848), Gunroom Steward from HMS Terror. McClintock mentions that 'We found, also, a clothes-brush near, and a horn pocket-comb'. [McClintock, Voyage of the Fox (1859), page 275]. The clothes brush was displayed at the Royal Naval Museum, Greenwich, Case 2, No. 31. 'Clothes brush'. The item is also shown in - 'Stereoscopic slides of the relics of Sir John Franklin's Expedition' photographed by Lieutenant Cheyne RN, at the United Services Museum, Whitehall, No. 3.
Date made before 1845
Artist/Maker Unknown
Credit National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London.
Materials wood; ivory; bristle
Measurements 176 x 58 x 38 mm
Parts
  • Wooden clothes brush with ivory veneer. (AAA2113)
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