One of two polar bear claws, with hair attached, probably from 1845 Northwest Passage Expedition led by Sir John Franklin.

Their provenance has been lost, although the Museum received them from the RUSI Museum in the 1963. A sketch in The Atalanta Constitution newspaper relating to the donation of a number of Franklin relics to the RUSI Museum shows two polar bear claws with long tufts of hair with the other material offered. These claws look very similar to AAA3952.1 and AAA3952.2. The polar bear claws, sometimes referred to as skin or claws in other newspapers, were donated by Lady Ommanney on the death of her husband, Sir Erasmus Ommanney, who had commanded HMS Assistance during the 1850-51 search for Franklin. The claws are part of a larger group of relics that included a clay cutty pipe (AAA2028), a small Gienware dish/tray (AAA2027), a glass medicine bottle and some broken blue crockery.

Captain Ommanney landed at Cape Riley, (North) Devon Island, on 23 August 1850 and discovered some of the first traces of Franklin's expedition on the beach in the form of a camp. He took a number of these back with him before moving to Beechey Island to the west of the cape. On 24 August he sent Lt. McClintock back to Cape Riley, who retrieved further relics.