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4 Case Study 2: Silk Fibres and the Shackleton Ensign
Sir Ernest Shackleton’s white ensign, currently belonging to the Royal Yacht
Squadron, presented a completely different set of challenges and problems.
Having been involved in numerous expeditions in the first two decades of the
20th century, Shackleton’s final voyage was planned as an expedition to the
Antarctic, with the aim of circumnavigating the continent to make scientific
and geographic observations. In September 1921 he set sail in the Quest, a
wooden sealer refitted for the purpose, crossed the Atlantic to South America
and then travelled southwards, coming within sight of the island of South
Georgia on the 4th of January, 1922. Shackleton was taken ill in the early
hours of the following day and died shortly after of heart failure. His body
was sewn in canvas and covered with the white ensign, which as a member
of the Royal Yacht Squadron he had the privilege of flying. Shackleton’s
body was to be returned to England, and was embalmed to this end, but at his
wife’s request he was instead buried on South Georgia. The ensign was
presented to the Royal Yacht Squadron by Lord Shackleton, Sir Ernest
Shackleton’s son.
The ensign itself is constructed of red, white and blue ribbed-weave silk, with
a pole sleeve of white, plain-weave cotton; it is approximately 211117 cm
in size (Figure 12). It was nailed to a wooden board, framed and glazed.
Figure 12The white ensign, before conservation treatment and after removing from its
original frame
(Photo: Mike Halliwell)