Sir George Back (1796-1878) Lot n° 201

Attributed to Sir George Back (1796-1878) 'A Buffalo Pond'; 'Manner of Making a Resting Place on a Winter Night' a pair, both inscribed with title, and dated '8th Feby.1820' and '15th March 1820' respectively, pen and brown ink and wash 13 x 19cm (2) Sir George Back was a British naval officer, explorer, naturalist and artist, who helped to trace the Arctic coastline of North America. His naval career began in 1808, when he joined HMS 'Arethusa'; he saw action off Cherbourg before being captured by the French near San Sebastian in 1809. He spent five years in prison before returning to England and joining HMS 'Akbar', which was stationed in Halifax, Nova Scotia, as midshipman. After volunteering for service under Commanders Buchan and Ross on 'Dorothea' and 'Trent' in 1818, in a failed attempt to cross the Arctic Ocean from Spitzbergen, he came into contact with the explorer John Franklin, commanding officer of the 'Trent', who was impressed by his usefulness as an artist. In May 1819 he set out with Franklin on the Hudson's Bay Company ship 'Prince of Wales' for York Factory. They spent the following winter at Cumberland House, the first inland port established by the company, and these two drawings are clearly among those he produced during that stay. In 1821-22 and again in 1825-27 he accompanied Franklin to Canada’s Northwest Territories. Back’s drawings are illustrated as engravings in Franklin’s narrative of the latter expedition, and some of the original drawings have appeared at auction in recent years. He returned to the same region on two expeditions of his own, the first in 1833 to search for John Ross, who had disappeared on a voyage four years earlier, and he went on to explore the Great Fish River, now renamed the Back River. He returned in 1836 to explore the coastal region east of the mouth of the river, and his journey is recorded in his 'Narrative of the Arctic Land Expedition to the Mouth of the Great Fish River'. Condition Report: Overall: 26 x 32cm Time staining. 'A Buffalo Pond' has faint brown staining to the bottom left edge, and is possibly slightly faded, please see images.