Photo: Bonhams
When auction house Bonhams announced in January plans to sell a sledge that is over a century old, it estimated its value at around £100,000 ($130,000). The auction house was seriously wrong.
Less than a month after announcing the sale of the sledge, Bonhams said its estimate has been “smashed.” Following a bitter struggle between bidders “in the room, on the phone and on the internet,” someone walked away with the sledge, in exchange for £143,750 ($185,000).
The item of such desire among bidders has of course a bit of history to it. It belonged to Eric Marshall, one of the men who accompanied Ernest Shackleton in the British Antarctic Expedition, or the Nimrod expedition, in the beginning of the 20th century.
The sledge is one of eighteen such means of transport used during the expedition by the team’s members to carry their supplies. Somehow, it survived the passing of time and managed to beat all expectations at Bonham’s Travel and Exploration Sale.
It not clear how many of the other such sledges are still around, but by all accounts, this could be the only one with a direct link to one of the main figures of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration.
The Nimrod Expedition, named so after the wooden boat that carried the explorers closer to their target, was the first of three expeditions led by Shackleton. It started in 1907 and ended, unsuccessfully, in 1909.
After reaching the Antarctic by means of coal-powered ships and steamers, four men set off to reach their destination, including Shackleton and Eric Marshall, with the help of poneys and sledges.
The sledges played an extremely important role during the trip. After losing one of their ponies, the men had to pull one by hand until near the very end of their trip out. They had to, because it contained their water and some of the supplies.
On the way back, after they gave up trying to reach the South Pole, they got to fit a sail of some sort on a sledge and use it to head back aided by strong winds.
The item of such desire among bidders has of course a bit of history to it. It belonged to Eric Marshall, one of the men who accompanied Ernest Shackleton in the British Antarctic Expedition, or the Nimrod expedition, in the beginning of the 20th century.
The sledge is one of eighteen such means of transport used during the expedition by the team’s members to carry their supplies. Somehow, it survived the passing of time and managed to beat all expectations at Bonham’s Travel and Exploration Sale.
It not clear how many of the other such sledges are still around, but by all accounts, this could be the only one with a direct link to one of the main figures of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration.
The Nimrod Expedition, named so after the wooden boat that carried the explorers closer to their target, was the first of three expeditions led by Shackleton. It started in 1907 and ended, unsuccessfully, in 1909.
After reaching the Antarctic by means of coal-powered ships and steamers, four men set off to reach their destination, including Shackleton and Eric Marshall, with the help of poneys and sledges.
The sledges played an extremely important role during the trip. After losing one of their ponies, the men had to pull one by hand until near the very end of their trip out. They had to, because it contained their water and some of the supplies.
On the way back, after they gave up trying to reach the South Pole, they got to fit a sail of some sort on a sledge and use it to head back aided by strong winds.
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