Ross, James Clark (1800-1862).

A fine mezzotint portrait of Ross, engraved by R. M. Hodgetts after J. B. Wildman’s original, image size approx. 8 1/2 x 10 1/2” (215 x 265mm), overall size 12 x 15” (305 x 380mm), light tide-mark partially affecting image, else in very good condition, the mezzotint itself a fine dark impression.

This heroic portrait of Ross commemorates his discovery of the North Magnetic Pole on 31st May, 1831. Ross had joined the Arctic expedition led by his uncle Sir John Ross in search of a North West Passage, during the years 1829 to 1833. The expedition had considerable success, not least Ross’s discovery of the Magnetic Pole, then at the Boothia Peninsula. Ross went on to lead an equally successful expedition of his own to the Antarctic, during the course of which the first official sighting of the Antarctic continent was made.