(BALDWIN ZIEGLER EXPEDITION) Message buoy used on the 1901 0

Sale 2116 - Lot 66

Price Realized: $ 8,400

?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price

Estimate: $ 5,000 - $ 7,500

(BALDWIN ZIEGLER EXPEDITION.) Message buoy used on the 1901-02 Baldwin-Ziegler Expedition to the North Pole via Franz Josef Land. The painted cork base approximately 8 inches in diameter, and approximately 20 inches in height overall, topped by a 45-star metal American flag and with the name of the Expedition engraved around the top of the base. Found in East Greenland, 1901-02

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This type of buoy was used by Arctic explorers to communicate with the outside world. The wire metal top unscrews to reveal a hollowed out area in which the Expedition could place a message. The buoy was then either tossed overboard (or left at a designated place) for another ship to pick up and relay the message. This buoy was found at Bass Rock in Northeast Greenland, at a latitude of 76ºN by L. P. Bendiksen. It was later gifted to the Geographical Society of Philadelphia and mentioned on page 37 of the 1960 History of the Society written by Marie Ahnighito Peary Stafford. While the Baldwin-Ziegler Expedition led by Evelyn Briggs Baldwin, Carl Johansen and Johan Kjedsen set up winter quarters and even began depositing supplies along a route to the Pole, no attempt was ever made. It is unclear if this buoy ever held a message, as the location in East Greenland would have been along the route of Baldwin's planned return from the Pole. It is possible that the empty buoy was left for his use at that time. a rare relic.