Ernest Shackleton's silver tea service to be sold

Ernest Shackleton died in 1922 while attempting to circumnavigate the Antarctic continent

A silver tea service once owned by an Anglo-Irish Antarctic explorer is to go under the hammer for the first time.

The set, originally owned by Sir Ernest Shackleton, will be offered at auction on 30 September, with an estimated value of £2,000 to £3,000.

From 2000 until earlier this year, the tea service was on long-term loan to the Scott Polar Research in Cambridge.

The three-piece set is engraved with the Shackleton family crest and motto "Fortitudine Vincimus" (Through endurance, we conquer), thought to have inspired the name of his famous ship, Endurance.

The three-piece set, crafted by James Dixon & Sons of Sheffield around 1900, comprises a teapot, sugar bowl and milk jug

Shackleton was born in County Kildare, Ireland, and gained fame for leading the Endurance expedition of 1914 to 1916.

During this his ship became trapped and eventually sank in Antarctic ice, forcing Shackleton and his men to make an astonishing escape on foot and in small boats.

In 2022, the wreck of the Endurance was found at the bottom of the Weddell Sea, remarkably intact at a depth of 3,008 metres.

The three-piece set is engraved with the Shackleton family crest and motto "Fortitudine Vincimus" (Through endurance, we conquer)

The tea set was reportedly presented to Shackleton in New York in 1910 during his North American lecture tour, said Roseberys Fine Art Auctioneers.

He had returned from his 1907 to 1909 Nimrod expedition and travelled with his wife Emily to the United States aboard the Lusitania.

In New York, he lectured to the American Geographical Society, and received the prestigious Cullum Gold Medal from Admiral Peary.

It was during this visit that the citizens of New York are said to have presented the silver service in recognition of his achievements.

The set passed to Shackleton's daughter, Cecily, then to her cousin and close friend, Rena Dodds.

Ms Dodds, who was godmother to the vendor's sister, subsequently gifted the service to the vendor's mother.

Georgina Agnew, head of silver at Roseberys, said: "This silver tea set is a rare and evocative piece of Shackletoniana.

"Not only directly linked to his family and legendary polar expeditions, but also with the distinguished provenance of having been on display at the Scott Polar Research Institute in Cambridge, the very institution he helped to found."

Accompanying the set are three cloth bags and a bundle of related documents and newspaper cuttings.

These include an extract from the Cambridge News depicting the set on display at the Scott Polar Research Institute, a 1922 cutting reproducing an entry from Shackleton's diary, and a museum exhibit card once used to describe the service.