The Otago Museum is delighted to announce a gift from June, Lady Hillary of several important artefacts representing the life of Sir Edmund Hillary.

In making this gift, Lady Hillary has been motivated to ensure the items, willed to her by Sir Edmund, made their way into a public collection for long term preservation and public accessibility. 

The gift includes:

· The iconic Kodak Retina camera that Sir Edmund used on the summit of Mt Everest to capture the historic ascent in 1953

· One of the best-known portraits of Sir Edmund, given to him by the photographer himself, Yousuf Karsh

· The famous ‘Hillary mug’ from the Everest expedition

· Rock shards that Sir Edmund collected as a memento atop Mt Everest

· The ice axe used in the TransAntarctic expedition of 1956

See below for more details of the gift

In total 17 items have been gifted. Together, they represent many aspects of Sir Edmund’s life.

The Otago Museum has been held in high esteem by both Sir Edmund and Lady June over many years. In 2002, Sir Edmund officially opened the Museum’s icon gallery Southern Land, Southern People. Later, the Museum hosted Sir Edmund Hillary: Everest and Beyond an exhibition created by the Auckland Museum. Travelling to the Otago Museum for the exhibition’s opening with Lady Hillary, Sir Edmund generously made himself available to meet Museum staff one on one – an experience that had a lasting inspirational impact on the team.

“Ed had a special fondness for the Otago Museum” says Lady Hillary. “I’m very confident that they’ll care for these items appropriately as their custodians for all New Zealanders – and I know they’ll display them with pride as reminders of Ed.”

“We’re humbled to be the recipients of this important gift” says Otago Museum Chief Executive, Shimrath Paul. “Our own Otago community will take enormous pleasure and inspiration from these significant items, and we welcome visitors from New Zealand and beyond to share with us in this. Sir Edmund’s story reminds all of us of what it is to be a New Zealander – we’re honoured that Lady Hillary has chosen the Otago Museum to receive this gift and take over their duty of care.”

The gift is displayed in the heart of the Museum – in the Atrium foyer and stairwell. Visible to all who visit the Museum, the items make up a small but high impact exhibition, which was opened by Lady Hillary in November 2010.


GIFT SUMMARY

THE ITEMS IN THE GIFT ARE:

· Kodak Retina camera used on the summit of Everest

· Another Kodak camera and case belonging to Hillary

· ‘Hillary Mug’ – the enamel mug issued to Hillary for the 1953 expedition

· Silk gloves, worn by Hillary on Everest

· Two rock shards collected by Hillary on the summit as mementos

· Hillary’s spanner, used on the 1953 Everest expedition – Hillary was responsible for maintaining the expedition’s 22 primus stoves

· One of the best-known portraits of Sir Edmund, given to him by the photographer himself, Yousuf Karsh

· A photographic portrait taken of Sir Edmund after he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II

· A ‘Hillary’s Honey’ honey pot from the Hillary family beekeeping business

· Hillary’s ice axe, used on the TransAntarctic expedition of 1956

· Hillary’s sunglasses, used as protection from snow blindness

· Hillary’s handheld telescope

· A Nepalese karta, representative of Hillary’s strong ties and commitment to the people of Nepal

· A meticulous luggage tag, handwritten by Hillary

· Hillary’s first passport, used to travel to Nepal for the 1953 Everest expedition

· Hillary’s last passport, used at age 86 to make his last visit to Nepal


SOME HIGHLIGHTS OF THE GIFT (further details):

THE KODAK RETINA CAMERA: The photos that went around the world
“Tenzing had been waiting patiently, but now, at my request, he unfurled the flags wrapped around his iceaxe and standing on the summit held them above his head. Clad in his bulky equipment and with the flags flapping furiously in the wind, he made a dramatic picture, and the thought drifted through my mind that this photograph should be a good one if it came out at all.”

– Sir Edmund Hillary

Hillary knew how important it would be to have photographic evidence that they had reached the world’s highest summit. Tucked within his windproofs was this 1935 Type 118 Kodak Retina that he had purchased second-hand in Auckland. After a congratulatory embrace on the summit, Hillary asked Tenzing to stand on the apex, ice axe raised, waving the flags of Britain, India, Nepal and the United Nations. He then photographed all the ridges leading away from the summit. Out to the east he took shots of the soaring peaks of the Himalayas and took particular interest in neighbouring giant Makalu, after noticing a feasible route to the yet unclimbed summit. Hillary’s summit photographs were published in newspapers and magazines throughout the world and became iconic images of 20th century achievement.


THE KARSH PHOTOGRAPHIC PORTRAIT: Portrait of a hero

“My life had been enriched by meeting many remarkable personalities… to record those men and women who leave their mark on our era.”

– Yousuf Karsh

This portrait was taken by photographer Yousuf Karsh, seven years after Hillary had climbed Everest, and given to Hillary by Karsh himself. Karsh is renowned for his photographs of the figures of politics, science, and culture in the 20th century, including Winston Churchill, Pablo Picasso, Muhammad Ali and Albert Einstein. When this photograph was taken in 1960, Hillary was an international figure, celebrated the world over as the climber of Everest and a knight of the Queen. To many, this Karsh portrait stands as a powerful portrayal of Hillary's character, distilling his compelling physical presence, humility and tenacity.


THE ‘HILLARY MUG’: A crucial cuppa

“Out came all our delicacies – we had sardines on biscuits, fresh dates and pint after pint of hot lemon drink crammed with sugar.”

– Sir Edmund Hillary

This is the personalised enamel mug issued to Hillary for the 1953 Everest expedition.

The mugs were used by the climbers for countless cups of tea and hot lemon drinks throughout the expedition. Warming and comforting, the hot drinks also played a critical role in the expedition’s success. Dehydration was a constant danger high on the mountain due to water loss from rapid breathing and the lack of available water, which had to come from melting snow and ice. The 1953 expedition’s physiologist Griffith Pugh had warned Hillary of the risks of dehydration and Hillary’s determination to drink large quantities of liquid contributed greatly to his resilience on the summit assault. Today, climbers who go above 5,000m know to drink as much as 5 - 6 litres of liquid a day.


EVEREST ROCK SHARDS: A keepsake from the summit

“I had one job left to do… I descended forty feet from the summit to the first visible rocks, and taking a handful of small stones thrust them into my pocket – it seemed a bit silly at the time, but I knew they’d be rather nice to have when we got down.”

– Sir Edmund Hillary

These small rocks were among the handful that Hillary picked up at the top of Everest. The rocks enabled Hillary to share a little piece of the mountain with his loved ones at home. His mother kept one of the pieces of rock Hillary collected on the summit in a silver locket with a note signed by her son.


THE ICE AXE: Ensuring a sure footing

“Peter [Mulgrew] and I tramped around searching for a safe route, but prod as we did at every likely prospect, the bridge would either ring hollow or collapse under the questioning point of the ice axe.”

– Sir Edmund Hillary

Hillary used this ice axe to test snow bridges on the 1956 Transantarctic Expedition. Hillary led the New Zealand contingent of the expedition, driving modified tractors across fissured glaciers and ice fields en route to the South Pole. The team would often encounter huge areas of crevasses and have to carefully navigate their train of tractors through the dangerous terrain.

When they couldn’t avoid a crevasse, Hillary’s team would have to drive their tractors across bridges of snow that spanned the crevasse. On a few heart-stopping occasions, the snow bridges collapsed under the weight of the tractor, which would then have to be pulled out of the crevasse by the other tractors in the train. Hillary’s team in this famous expedition included engineer and businessman Murray Ellis of Dunedin.