Lot 5: Joseph Allen (1770-1839)

Portrait of Lieut. Charles Palmer, RN, small half length, in naval uniform and wearing a fur wrap. An Arctic landscape beyond with inscription 'LIEUT C. PALMER/RN/HMS/HECLA painted by J. Allen 1821' on the reverse oil on panel 131/4 x 11 1/16in. (33.7 x 28.1cm.) PROVENANCE: Miss Chevasse. Charles Palmer, born in 1792, made his first Arctic voyage as a midshipman on the Hecla, sailing on Parry's first voyage in search of a Northwest Passage in 1819-20, which reached beyond 110 longitude in the Arctic circle. Parry named a cape on the southern side of Melville Island after his midshipman. On his return to England in 1820 Palmer was promoted to Lieutenant, and sailed again on the Hecla under Lyon on Parry's second voyage in 1821. The Hecla and Fury sailed through Hudson's Strait and Foxe's Channel to examine Repulse Bay, wintered at Winter Island and at Igloolik and traced the Fury and Hecla Strait to its junction with Regent Inlet. The strait remained blocked by the ice throughout the summers of 1822-23 and Parry, deciding against a third winter in the Arctic, returned to Britain in 1823.