Polar carving identified

Apr 2 2010 by Edwin Lawrence, Ayrshire Post (main ed)

AN ARCTIC explorer has identified a sculpture at Culzean Castle.

Pat Cannings spotted the tiny bone carving of two men shaking hands.

And he recognised it as a depiction of a meeting between Norwegian Fridtjof Nansen and Englishman Frederick Jackson.

Pat said: “I have always been a great admirer of Nansen, not only for his exploration achievements but for his scientific research too.”

Pat, from Hereford, has himself has led several expeditions for the British Schools Exploring Society.

And he has huge respect for the early Arctic explorers who didn’t have the advantage of modern technology.

Culzean’s bone carving portrays the meeting in Franz Josef Land in 1896 between Nansen and Jackson.

Visitors to the castle, which opened for the summer on Tuesday this week, can see the sculpture in the Blue Drawing Room.

Culzean’s collections care officer, Gordon Nelson, said: “It is always exciting to find out a piece in our collection has greater significance than we had realised.

“And for the discovery to be made by a visitor is the icing on the cake.”

Mr Nelson pointed out: “We believe the 3rd Marquess of Ailsa spent a lot of time in Scandinavia, so the piece is likely to have been purchased there as a souvenir during the late Victorian period.”

Pat Cannings is particularly interested in the legendary Nansen – a scientist, humanitarian and statesman, as well as an explorer.

Pat said: “Nansen led the first ever crossing of Greenland, sailed the Arctic Ocean and was influential in discovering the foundations of neurology and the dynamics of ocean currents.

“He pioneered the use of skis on expeditions and contributed much to the design of pressure stoves, such as the primus stove, for cooking in cold climates.

“Nansen sledges were a part of standard expedition kit until recently – in fact I’ve used them myself.

“Nansen was also involved heavily in Norway gaining its independence freedom from Sweden and a wide range of humanitarian activities including the repatriation of prisoners of war at the end of World War One. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1922.”

Pat revealed: “I had bought a book on Nansen shortly before visiting Culzean and recognised the carving immediately as a scene from his life.”

Frederick Jackson was also a remarkable man, leading the Jackson-Harmsworth polar expedition of 1894-1897, sponsored by the Royal Geographical Society.

He discovered, mapped and named the greater part of Franz Joseph Land. And he actually rescued the more renowned Nansen.

Nansen and colleague Hjalmar Johansen were trying to reach Spitsbergen by kayak. But Jackson informed them they were in fact on Franz Josef Land.

With Jackson’s help, Nansen and Johansen were able to return home, and Jackson received a knighthood of the first class of the Norwegian Royal Order of St Olaf in 1898, and was awarded the gold medal of the Paris Geographical Society in 1899.

His account of the expedition was published under the title of A Thousand Days in the Arctic (1899).