A metal pencil case

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A battered white metal pencil case from the 1845 British Northwest Passage Expedition led by Sir John Franklin. The metal case is a holder for pencil leads. It is decorated with engine turning and foliage, with two hexagonal collars - one close to an end and the other two-thirds the way down. It is corroded and the side has split.

The pencil case was found at the boat site in Erebus Bay by Captain F. L. McClintock's sledge team on 30 May 1859, as part of the search expedition led by McClintock The site had been visited and partially investigated by Lt. William Hobson on 24 May but his report does not list everything he saw or removed. McClintock records 'German silver pencil-case'. [McClintock, Voyage of the Fox (1859), page 366].

The stopper was displayed at the Royal Naval Museum, Greenwich, Case 2, No. 72. 'German-silver pencil case'. The item is 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. 5 (left, to the right of the knife).

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Object Details

ID:	AAA2204
Collection:	Polar Equipment and Relics
Type:	Pencil case
Display location:	Not on display
Creator:	Unknown
Events:	Arctic Exploration: Franklin's Last Expedition, 1845-1848; Arctic Exploration: Franklin Search Expedition, McClintock, 1857-1859
Vessels:	Fox (1855)
Date made:	Before 1845
Credit:	National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London.
Measurements:	92 x 8 mm
Parts:	A metal pencil case Display label (AAA2204.1)