Knife

A relic of Sir John Franklin's last expedition 1845-48. Knife (killuutuniq) bought from the Inuit by the McClintock Search Expedition on 3 March 1859, near Cape Victoria, on the Boothia Peninsula. The item is made from materials salvaged from discarded equipment belonging to the Franklin expedition.

The knife has a small, European-made blade marked 'TURNER YEOMINSTER' lashed to a softwood handle with a bone terminal attached with pins. A Royal Naval Museum number has been painted in white on the handle '(4)'.

The item is referred to by McClintock: 'Seven knives made by the natives out of materials obtained from the last expedition'. He continues: 'The knives are made either of iron or steel, riveted to two strips of hoop, between which the handle of wood is inserted, and rivets passed through securing them together. The rivets are almost all made out of copper nails, such as would be found on a copper-fastened boat, but those which have been examined do not bear the Government mark. It is probable that most of the boats of 'Erebus' and 'Terror' were built by contract and therefore do not have the broad arrow stamped upon their iron and copper work'.

Object Details

ID: AAA2103
Collection: World Cultures; Polar Equipment and Relics
Type: Knife
Display location: Not on display
Creator: Turner, Charles
Events: Arctic Exploration: Franklin's Last Expedition, 1845-1848; Arctic Exploration: Franklin Search Expedition, McClintock, 1857-1859
Vessels: Fox (1855)
Date made: 1848-1859
Credit: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London.
Measurements: 248 x 51 x 20 mm
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