A life ring from onboard the Admiral Richard E. Byrd's Flagship the "Jacob Ruppert." Made of cork, canvas, and rope in white with black stenciled lettering reading "Jacob Ruppert -- New York," it is also accompanied by a significant amount of ephemera.


The Jacob Ruppert was the flagship of Admiral Byrd's Antarctic Expedition of 1933-1935. Accompanying the ring is a binder of ephemera from the voyage, including photos of Capitan William F. Verleger, crew members, and men from the Acme credit line, as well as envelopes postmarked from the "Second Bryd Antartic Expedition S.S Jacob Ruppert" amongst other pieces of ephemera from the 14-month long expedition. A significant photo is one of Lieut. George Noville, Admiral Byrd, and Jacob Ruppert (the investor) in a meeting at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York. Given the economic circumstances of the time of his second expedition, Byrd collected many donations to prepare for his journey North. In fact, even the ship was donated to Byrd by tycoon Jacob Ruppert, owner of the Jacob Ruppert Brewing Company and the New York Yankees baseball team, hence the name.



Condition: The ring is aged and somewhat unstable. The cork beneath the "y" in York is torn in half and the "b" in Jacob is a weak spot of cork. It is housed in a custom foam-injected box. More detailed condition reports and additional photographs are available by request. The absence of a condition report does not imply that the lot is in excellent condition. Please message us through the online bidding platform or call Guernsey's at 212-794-2280 to request a more thorough condition report.