An ivory toothbrush handle from the 1845 Northwest Passage Expedition led by Sir John Franklin. A second handle from the expedition is AAA2378

The toothbrush handle was recovered by the US expedition under Lieutenant Frederick Schwatka between 1878-1880. It is described as 'Item 96. Parts of toothbrush from the boatplace at Erebus Bay' in the 1881 catalogue of items that he sent back to Britain in 1881 [TNA, ADM 1/6600].

Schwatka's expedition visited the Erebus Bay 'boat place' between 17 and 21 July 1879. Gilder recorded 'At the bottom of one of the deepest inlets or bays, the men found the wreck of a ship's boat strewn along the beach'. Items included toothbrushes [Schwatka, page 88]. The markings on the boat's stem found by Schwatka indicate it was the same one located by McClintock. During the intervening years the Inuit had broken it up. They reported to Hall and Schwatka, that they had found a second boat at Erebus Bay and 14 more skeletons. Although Schwatka could not find the other boat, he discovered the bones of four Europeans in this area. Barry Ranford found a boat site on a small island in Erebus Bay in 1993. An excavation revealed the remains of eleven more individuals.

The '(7)' in white paint on the handle indicates that it was displayed in the Royal Naval Museum, Greenwich, with the original description of 'Case 6, No. 7. Two toothbrush handles'. The objects in Case 6 were (inaccurately) amalgamated into one entry in the published version: 'Case 6. Native tools &c., obtained from the Ookosiksillik Esquimaux at Hayes River, and made of parts belonging to H.M. Ships "Erebus" and "Terror".'