Newly acquired Scott of the Antarctic object now on display at City Museum and Art Gallery
An important object linked to famous polar explorer Captain Robert Falcon Scott, otherwise known as ‘Scott of the Antarctic’, is now on display at the City Museum and Art Gallery.
The object is his christening cup – a piece of commemorative silver gilt dating from as far back as 30 June 1868.
The cup was originally given to a young Scott following his christening at Stoke Damerel Church by his godparents Michael and Sophia Falcon.
It has been acquired thanks to funding support from the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) Purchase Grant Fund and the Heritage Lottery Fund, as well as the Friends of Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery and the Devon and Cornwall Polar Society. The cup is worth £12,500 and will add to a collection of other interesting Scott-related items owned by the Museum including photographs, medals, goggles and a pair of skis.
Scott is one of Plymouth’s most famous figures. He was born in Devonport and first educated in Stoke. He later went on to lead two expeditions to Antarctica (1901 to 1904 and 1910 to 1913). On the second of these, the ‘Terra Nova’ expedition, he became the first Briton to lead a polar party to the South Pole. Tragically, he and his fellow teammates Edward Wilson, Edgar Evans, Henry Bowers and Lawrence Oates all perished on their return trek to basecamp.
The cup, which can be seen in the Museum’s ‘Plymouth: Port and Place’ gallery along with other objects from the ‘Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration’, is engraved and punched with a vine leaf pattern and stamped with the hallmark of its makers. The gallery is open from 10am to 5.30pm Tuesday to Friday and 10am to 5pm on Saturdays. Admission is free.
To celebrate its acquisition the Museum has produced a new information leaflet highlighting the city’s connections to Scott and the Antarctic and added this, plus a series of new information and resources, to its Scott of the Antarctic web pages. Visit www.plymouth.gov.uk/captainscott.
