Lot 508
Lt. Samuel Gurney Cresswell, Royal Navy, (British, 1827-1867)
Lot 508 Details
Lt. Samuel Gurney Cresswell, Royal Navy, (British, 1827-1867)
COMPLETE SET OF EIGHT CHROMOLITHOGRAPH PRINTS
from 'A Series of Eight Sketches in Colour, [...] of the Route of the Voyage of H.M.S. 'Investigator' during the Discovery of the North West Passage': September 6th 1850; Bold Headland on Baring Island; H.M.S. Investigator in the pack, October 8th 1850; Critical position of H.M.S. Investigator on the North-Coast of Baring Island, August 20th 1851; H.M.S. Investigator running through a narrow channel in a snow storm, between grounded and pack ice, September 23rd 1851; Melville Island from Banks' Land; Sledge-Party leaving H.M.S. Investigator in Mercy Bay, under command of Lieutenant Gurney Creswell, 15 April 1853; and Sledging over Hummocky Ice, April 1853,published at London, Day & Son. 1854, each framed
sight 14.5 x 17.25 in — 36.8 x 43.8 cm; sight 21 x 23.5 in — 53.3 x 59.7 cm
Estimate $1,000-$1,500
Additional Images
Note:
Samuel Gurney Cresswell (1827-1867) was born in Norfolk England. In 1842, he joined the Royal Navy and served on the ship HMS Agincourt in the China Seas. In 1848, he joined the crew of the HMS Investigator, under the leadership of Sir James Ross on a voyage in search of John Franklin’s missing polar expedition. The attempt was unsuccessful and Cresswell joined another expedition as a second lieutenant, under the command of Robert McClure. After four years of searching, the HMS Investigator became entrapped in ice. Under McClure’s orders, Cresswell led a sledging party across the ice, carrying six gravely ill crew members to safety. After one hundred and seventy gruelling miles, they were found by another search party for the Franklin, on the HMS Resolute. In addition to Cresswell’s heroic action and being credited as the first naval officer to cross the entire Northwest Passage, he is best remembered as an artist. He depicted the second voyage on the HMS Investigator in a series of eight dramatic drawings, two of which are included in this exhibition. The drawings show some of the obstacles faced by the crews, notably fierce weather conditions, ice jams, icebergs and isolation as well as the stark and intense beauty of the unforgiving north.
-Toronto Public Library: Capturing Canada on Paper and Canvas