PRESENTATION FLASK FOR PEARY'S NORTH POLE EXPEDITION, 1893-1894. PEARY, ROBERT E. 1856-1920. Sil...

PRESENTATION FLASK FOR PEARY'S NORTH POLE EXPEDITION, 1893-1894. PEARY, ROBERT E. 1856-1920. Silver-plated flask finely engraved 'R.E. Peary ... from his friend J.B. Pond / [decoration] / To Christen / The North Pole / 1893-4' with Peary's monogram beneath the head of a caribou, 6 x 3.5 x 1 inches (15 x 9 x 2.1 cm), detailed ornate engraved decoration. Provenance: Admiral Robert E. Peary; by descent, sold James D. Julia, Estate of Robert E. Peary, Jr., Important Maine Summer Auction, August 25-26, 1994, lot 514. PRESENTED TO PEARY BEFORE HIS 1893-4 EXPEDITION TO THE NORTH POLE BY HIS PROMOTIONAL AGENT MAJOR J.B. POND, who had managed the 1892-3 lecture tour that financed Peary's Second North Greenland Expedition. In late 1892, having decided his desire to return to the north, Peary was approached by promoter Major James Burton Pond, a Union Civil War Medal of Honor winner who had become the premiere promoter of celebrity lectures, arranging successful tours for Mark Twain, Henry Stanley, Frederick Douglass, Susan B. Anthony and P.T. Barnum. Pond suggested a series of lectures, and immediately Peary recognized a way to finance his return to Peary Land (the far northeastern tip of Greenland). Over the next 96 days, Peary delivered more than 165 lectures, earning enough, with some additional donations and promises of financial support, to finance his next expedition. From the engraved inscription, we can surmise that the flask was a gift from Pond 'To Christen The North Pole' in 1893-4. Lot to be sold without reserve. This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: ¤ ¤ Without reserve For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing