Photograph of the 1921-22 Antarctic expedition on Quest, from a collection sold for £10,000 at Bonhams.
She joined Erebus, Terror and Endurance in emerging from the depths (not literally).
Quest sank in 1962 but her claim to Polar fame was service in Ernest Shackleton’s 1921-22 expedition to the Antarctic – his last as it turned out. He died of a heart attack on board on January 5, 1922, while at harbour in South Georgia.
The expedition was covered in a collection of photographs offered at Bonhams Knightsbridge (28/27/21/14.5% buyer’s premium) in London on June 3, just nine days before newspaper reports revealed the finding of the Quest wreck – the ship had remained in service until she sank off the Canadian coast on a seal-hunting voyage.
The images had been taken by Dr Alec Macklin (1889-1967), member of both Shackleton’s Imperial Trans-Antarctic ‘Endurance’ Expedition (1914-17) and the Shackleton-Rowett Expedition, the one on Quest.
The ship’s surgeon, he was also one of the main photographers on the 1921-22 expedition.
The images depict all aspects of the voyage, from departure to the return, and Shackleton’s funeral.
Photograph of the 1921-22 Antarctic expedition on Quest, from a collection sold for £10,000 at Bonhams.
Comprising about 200 photographs, the collection had been gifted to the vendor, Dr Roland Lewis- Smith, by Dr Macklin’s widow. Dr Lewis-Smith himself followed an Antarctic career with the British Antarctic Survey after being inspired by Dr Macklin, a near neighbour. Many of these images were included in Shackleton’s Last Voyage. The Story of the ‘Quest’ (1923) by Frank Wild (who also used Dr Macklin’s diary as a major source). A second edition of the book was included in the lot.
Against an estimate of £1500-2500, it hammered down at £10,000.
