Lotus floe 'neath the Barrier Brink.

£35,000 · Offered by Maggs Bros Ltd

From the collection of the expedition leader, Dr. Douglas Mawson, a very fine large format print of a photograph taken on the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, 1911-14. The photograph’s title derives from a poem by Archibald McLean, reproduced in full in the official expedition account Home of the Blizzard . The further captioning on the verso reads “Portion of a Panorama at Lands End. Bickerton in the view / Pancake ice.” From the contemporary exhibition catalogues however, there is no indication that the photograph was exhibited or sold in any format other than present. Francis Bickerton was trained as an aeronautical engineer, and was primarily employed to operate and maintain the expedition REP monoplane. Whilst in Antarctica, he volunteered for and was accepted into Shackleton’s Trans Antarctic Expedition crew, although he did not take up the position, opting rather at the outbreak of war to enlist in the Royal Flying Corps.

• Year: 1914

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