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Large chromolithograph on canvas, approximately 53x71.5 cm (20¾x28¼") visible. In an old frame, overall 59x77.5 cm (23¼x30½").

A very graphic scene of an encounter on the ice between two polar bears and a group of four men and their dogs outside a camp on the ice, a ship in the near distance, perhaps ice-bound. One bear lies dead on the ice while the other is engaged in a close struggle with one of the men and a dog. The men are armed with axes, knives, and harpoons. It is unclear if the men are ice bound and defending themselves from attack or intentionally hunting the bears, though it seems likely the former is the case, perhaps inspired by the 1881 loss of the ship Jeannette and its crew in the arctic ice.