NORTH-WEST PASSAGE BOX

NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. SUPERB FOUR-COLOUR GOLD ENGINE-TURNED FREEDOM BOX PRESENTED TO LIEUTENANT MATTHEW LIDDON, SECOND IN COMMAND ON PARRY'S SECOND EXPEDITION TO DISCOVER THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE, the inscription inside the lid in a variety of scripts reads: 'Presented to Lieutenant Matthew Liddon Commander of H.M.S. Griper in the expedition under Captain Parry to discover the North West Passage A.D. 1819 by his friends resident chiefly in the town and Neighbourhood of his Native Place Axminster Devon in testimony of their esteem for His Private Worth and high admiration of his Gallantry and Public Services', the lid and fore-edge decorated in different coloured golds with thistles, roses and foliage, the central panel of the lid the edges and base in an engine-turned diced pattern, in superb condition, lid and base separately marked, 4 ounces, 74 mm wide, 50 mm deep, 20 mm high, by A.J. Strachen, London, 1820

Liddon, 'a resourceful, ebullient young man whom Parry had met in America', was appointed to command the Griper, the gun-brig of 180 tons which was the consort to Parry's Hecla on his second expedition. (Ann Parry, Parry of the Arctic, 1963).

In 1832 Liddon, by then promoted captain, moved his family to The Grove, Colyton, Devonshire. His eldest son was Henry Parry Liddon (1829-1890), the famous preacher, theologian and Canon of St. Paul's, who was a close friend of Lewis Carroll. They visited Russia together in 1867, Dodgson's only journey abroad.

£6,500