Antarctic memorabilia sale marks 100th anniversary

EXACTLY one hundred years ago, intrepid explorers were braving some of the most hostile conditions on earth to be able to claim victory in the race to the South Pole.

And at the salerooms of Moore Allen & Innocent on Friday, April 17 memorabilia connected to Gloucestershire’s own Antarctic hero, Raymond Priestley, goes under the hammer.

In 1909, geologist Priestley, from Tewkesbury, was part of Ernest Shackleton’s nearly successful attempt to be the first to reach the South Pole. He was part of the advance team that left fuel and food depots for Shackleton, who, with three companions, trekked further south across the snowy wastes than anyone before, coming within 97 miles of the South Pole.

Two years later, Priestley was part of Robert Falcon Scott’s ill-fated Terra Nova Expedition. Whilst exploring and carrying out scientific work he came across the camp of Norwegian Roald Amundsen, and reported the explorer’s location to Scott.

Soon after, the race for the South Pole began. Scott, of course, reached the South Pole in January 1912, only to find Amundsen had beaten him to it. On the return journey, he and four comrades all perished, victims of exhaustion, starvation and extreme cold.

The Priestley collection, to go under the hammer at the Picture and Book Sale, includes three handwritten letters to friends and relatives by the explorer. One is on British Antarctic Expedition Team Terra Nova RYS headed notepaper, and is written to his Aunt Emily. The letters carry an estimate of £300 to £500.

Also among the collection are volumes 1 and 2 of The Heart of the Antarctic by E H Shackleton, published in 1909 and signed by Emily Priestley. The books carry an estimate of £150 to £200. And also for sale is a first edition of Priestley’s own work, Antarctic Adventure, Scott’s Northern Party, which was published in 1914. It carries an estimate of £200 to £300.

Turning to warmer climes, another stand-out lot in the sale is a handwritten manuscript in the Indian Mughal style, dating from the 18th or early 19th century. The bloodthirsty tome depicts scenes of torture – including a man having spikes nailed into his legs and another being thrown into a pit of snakes – and animal sacrifice. The embossed leather bound book, which is read from back to front and is written in Mughal script, carries an estimate of £300 to £500.

Muslim culture also features in the paintings section, with a full-length portrait of a Turkish swordsman holding a scimitar, the battle raging behind him. Attributed to the school of the 19th century French Romantic painter, Eugene Delacroix, the painting carries an estimate of £1,000 to £1,500.

Small but perfectly formed, a still life study of musical instruments by the 17th century Dutch painter Edwaert Collier measures just 36cm by 31cm but carries an estimate of £5,000 to £8,000. Meanwhile, a pair of portraits attributed to fellow Dutchman Michiel Jansz Van Mierevelt (1567-1641) carries an estimate of £5,000 to £7,000 despite the fact that the artist’s signature reads ‘Mirevelt’.

Staying in the 17th century, an allegorical study of Zeus as a bull seducing Europa, with her maidens in attendance, carries an estimate of £5,000 to £8,000.

Meanwhile, a circa 1800 Italian painting in the Old Master manner has enjoyed an interesting recent history. The allegorical study of the Virgin Mary with the infant in her arms, reading to a bearded man, an angel at his head and cherubs bearing baskets of flowers, and measuring a whopping 178cm by 108cm, was found at a Cotswold house propped up against the wall of the utility room, facing inwards. The unsigned painting carries an estimate of £2,000 to £3,000.

But, still on a religious theme, it is a small (46.5cm by 47cm) oil on panel of the infants Christ and John the Baptist embracing which is causing ripples of excitement. The original, Holy Infants Embracing, is ascribed to Leonardo da Vinci. His pupil, Marco d’Oggiono, copied the painting, and his version hangs in the British Royal Collection.

“Over the past decade or so, experts from Italy, Holland and London have studied the painting. They all agree it is of the 16th century and they all agree that it is a version of Holy Infants Embracing,” said auctioneer Philip Allwood. “What no-one will do is grant full attribution to Da Vinci.

“This is a mystery for the Old Master Detectives to solve. If they decide we have a genuine Da Vinci on our hands, the £3,000 to £5,000 estimate will be exceeded by millions!”

Items from the Priestley collection	Edwaert Collier’s study of musical instruments
An allegorical study of Zeus as a bull seducing Europa	Holy Infants Embracing
A handwritten manuscript in the Mughal style	A Turkish swordsman
Virgin Mary with the infant in her arms