An Edwardian silver tea service once owned by Irish explorer Ernest Shackleton (1874–1922) has sold for £20,990 at London auctioneers Roseberys.
Two bidders in Ireland and the UK competed by phone, with an online bidder in Australia also chasing the lot. The Irish buyer secured it for £20,990, well above its £2,000-£3,000 estimate.
Crafted around 1900 by James Dixon & Sons of Sheffield, the three-piece set bears the Shackleton family crest and motto “Fortitudine Vincimus” (“Through endurance, we conquer”) - words that later inspired the name of his most famous ship, the Endurance.
The tea service was reputedly presented to Shackleton in New York in 1910 during his North American lecture tour following the 1907 Nimrod expedition to the Antarctic. It descended to Shackleton’s daughter Cecily (1906-1957) and was gifted by her to Rena Dodds, who was a close friend of Cecily’s and godmother to the current owner’s sister. It was on loan for two decades to the Scott Polar Research Institute in Cambridge, the institution Shackleton himself had supported at its founding in 1920.
This is the first time the tea set has come to auction.
A close up of the engraving on the tea set, which reads “Fortitudine Vincimus” (“Through endurance, we conquer”). Photo: Roseberys
“It feels fitting that this significant piece of Shackletoniana has returned to Ireland, where Shackleton was born and remains a national hero. This exceptional result demonstrates a persistent fascination with his life and legacy,” said Georgina Agnew, Head of Silver at Roseberys.
Born in Kilkea House near Athy in County Kildare, Shackleton is one of Ireland’s most celebrated explorers. His leadership of the 1914-16 Endurance expedition, when the ship was trapped and sunk in Antarctic ice, cemented his place in history.
Ernest Shackleton. (Public Domain)
After months stranded, Shackleton and five others made an 800-mile voyage across treacherous seas to secure the rescue of his entire crew. In 2022 the wreck was found upright and remarkably preserved, renewing global interest in his story.
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Accompanying the set are three cloth bags from the prestigious Bailey, Banks & Biddle Company of Philadelphia, along with 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.
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