Lot Essay
This important unpublished portrait of Ross probably commemorates the Arctic explorer's knighthood, bestowed in 1834 after his return from his second voyage in search of a Northwest Passage in 1833. It follows James Green's slightly larger portrait of 1833 painted immediately after Ross's return, exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1834 and now in the National Portrait Gallery. Ormond lists four portraits of Ross by Faulkner, three of the same type as that of Green, the fourth showing the sitter with the Order of the Bath, awarded him in 1834. At least eleven other portraits are listed, including Hayter's exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1834 (R. Ormond, Early Victorian Portraits, I, London, 1973, p. 402).
Ross was appointed commander of the first expedition in search of a Northwest Passage in 1818, sailing on the Isabella with the Alexander commanded by Lieutenant Parry, intending to make the Northwest Passage through Davis' Strait. The expedition rediscovered Baffin's Bay and sailed westward for Lancaster Sound. Ross thought the passage was barred by a range of mountains, which he named the Croker Mountains, and returned to England, publishing his observations in A Voyage of Discovery in 1819. Doubts about the existence of the barrier were expressed by Captain Sabine, one of the scientific officers who had sailed with Ross, and Parry was despatched on a second voyage, returning in 1820 to disprove Ross's theory and leading to disparagement of Ross's account.
Ross set off on his second voyage in 1829 in the Victory, a small vessel fitted out mostly at the expense of Felix Booth. He sought a passage south from Regent's Inlet but was unable to break through the ice and wintered in Felix Harbour in 1829-30. The Victory made little progress south in the following summer and was abandoned in May 1832, beset by ice. Ross and his party wintered at Fury Beach and were rescued by a whaler, Ross's old ship the Isabella, in Lancaster Sound in 1833 and were returned to England in October of the same year.
The accomplishments of Ross on his second long voyage included the survey of the Boothian Peninsula, a large part of King William Land and the Gulf of Boothia, along with the discovery of the magnetic pole by Ross's nephew, Lieutenant James Clark Ross.
Ross was honoured on his return with a knighthood, gold medals from the Geographical Societies of London and Paris, and was nominated for a C.B. in December, 1834. He published his Narrative of a Second Voyage in search of a North-West Passage, and of a Residence in the Arctic Regions during the Years 1829-1833 in 1835.
A lengthy controversy ensued between Ross and Sir John Barrow in the following years, resulting in the exclusion of Ross from admiralty thinking and the rejection of his urging for a Franklin relief expedition in 1847. He fitted out the Felix in 1850, again with Sir Felix Booth's support, and sailed for Lancaster Sound in search of Franklin, returning to England the following year and publishing a virulent attack on the Government's failure in the search for Franklin in 1855.
Ross was appointed commander of the first expedition in search of a Northwest Passage in 1818, sailing on the Isabella with the Alexander commanded by Lieutenant Parry, intending to make the Northwest Passage through Davis' Strait. The expedition rediscovered Baffin's Bay and sailed westward for Lancaster Sound. Ross thought the passage was barred by a range of mountains, which he named the Croker Mountains, and returned to England, publishing his observations in A Voyage of Discovery in 1819. Doubts about the existence of the barrier were expressed by Captain Sabine, one of the scientific officers who had sailed with Ross, and Parry was despatched on a second voyage, returning in 1820 to disprove Ross's theory and leading to disparagement of Ross's account.
Ross set off on his second voyage in 1829 in the Victory, a small vessel fitted out mostly at the expense of Felix Booth. He sought a passage south from Regent's Inlet but was unable to break through the ice and wintered in Felix Harbour in 1829-30. The Victory made little progress south in the following summer and was abandoned in May 1832, beset by ice. Ross and his party wintered at Fury Beach and were rescued by a whaler, Ross's old ship the Isabella, in Lancaster Sound in 1833 and were returned to England in October of the same year.
The accomplishments of Ross on his second long voyage included the survey of the Boothian Peninsula, a large part of King William Land and the Gulf of Boothia, along with the discovery of the magnetic pole by Ross's nephew, Lieutenant James Clark Ross.
Ross was honoured on his return with a knighthood, gold medals from the Geographical Societies of London and Paris, and was nominated for a C.B. in December, 1834. He published his Narrative of a Second Voyage in search of a North-West Passage, and of a Residence in the Arctic Regions during the Years 1829-1833 in 1835.
A lengthy controversy ensued between Ross and Sir John Barrow in the following years, resulting in the exclusion of Ross from admiralty thinking and the rejection of his urging for a Franklin relief expedition in 1847. He fitted out the Felix in 1850, again with Sir Felix Booth's support, and sailed for Lancaster Sound in search of Franklin, returning to England the following year and publishing a virulent attack on the Government's failure in the search for Franklin in 1855.