δ ARTHUR BURGESS (BRITISH, 1879-1957)
The 'Jacob Ruppert' unloading Richard Byrd's second Antarctic Expedition, 1933
Signed 'Arthur Burgess' with monogram (lower right)
Watercolour and pencil
15 x 22¼in. (38 x 56.5cm.)

Provenance: Christie's South Kensington: Maritime Sale, 15 October 1992, lot 385
Literature: Bryan, R: Ordeal by Ice, Ships of the Antarctic, Seaforth 2011, p.367.

Richard Byrd (1888-1957) was one of America's most experienced Antarctic and Polar explorers and made (disputed) claims to have been the first man to have flown over both poles. The United States Shipping Board loaned the 'three islands' steel lumber freighter Pacific Fir for a nominal $1 and it was renamed the Jacob Ruppert after a supporter, and she steamed in company with a converted wooden whaler Bear which was also an icebreaker. Crewed by ninety-five men hot-bunking between thirty bunks, they reached pack ice on 20th December 1933 which presented a serious problem for her unprotected 2cm steel plates. After many detours the Jacob Ruppert finally moored beside the bay ice three miles from Little America but was separated from it by massive pressure ridges and unloading the 400 tons of stores on unstable ice and in high winds was a nightmare, but completed and the Jacob Ruppert departed. In 1941 she was renamed Cocle, but was torpedoed by U-94 on 12 May 1942 in passage between the Tyne and New York with general cargo.

Condition Report
Good overall condition - is behind early UV glass, but mount now going and needs changing before it harms paper - perhaps a hint of browning at extreme edges.

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