A rope eyesplice with attached rope grommet from the 1845 Northwest Passage Expedition led by Sir John Franklin. The rope grommet may not actually be associated with the eyesplice, but attached to prevent loss. The whipping on the end of the eyesplice has become partially unravelled.

The two objects were recovered by the US expedition under Lieutenant Frederick Schwatka between 1878-1880. It is part of 'Item 100. Small articles found at the boat place at Erebus Bay' in the 1881 catalogue of items that he sent back to Britain in 1881 [TNA, ADM 1/6600]. While not specifically mentioned, they were illustrated in the Scribner's Monthly Magazine, volume XXII, Page 80 (New York, 1881) at the end of an article by Colonel Gilder about the expedition.

Schwatka's expedition visited the Erebus Bay 'boat place' between 17 and 21 July 1879. Gilder recorded 'At the bottom of one of the deepest inlets or bays, the men found the wreck of a ship's boat strewn along the beach'.

The eyesplice and grommet were displayed in the Royal Naval Museum, Greenwich, 'Case 3, No. 37. Rope Grommet'. However, originally, they were retained by the Admiralty rather than passed onto the Royal Naval Museum in 1881.