Soup tureen used on board HMS 'Assistance' during the Arctic search for Franklin, 1850-51.

Pewter soup tureen with a cast oval bowl standing on a flared foot, with simple loop handles at each end and a high stepped spun lid with the rim hammered over. The lid has an open scrolled handle as the finial, fastened inside by brass screws. There is a small hole in the side of the lid for a soup ladle.

The lid is engraved: 'This TUREEN was used in the OFFICERS MESS of H.M.S. ASSISTANCE during the search for Sir John Franklin in 1850-51. Purchased by CHARLES EDE STAFF SURGEON R.N. when the SHIP was paid off'.

HMS 'Assistance', Captain Erasmus Ommanney, was one of 40 or more ships which took part in the seach for Sir John Franklin's missing 1845 expedition in search of the North West Passage. In 1850 eight vessels (including 'Resolute' and 'Assistance') assembled off Beechey Island, where they found traces of Franklin's first winter camp and the graves of three crew members, but no message or other clues to the fate of the missing expedition.