A life jacket used by a survivor of the Titanic disaster has sold for £670,000 (€770,000) at auction in England.
First-class passenger Laura Mabel Francatelli wore the vest aboard lifeboat number one and it was later signed by eight fellow survivors, including firemen Charles Hendrickson and George Taylor, and able seaman James Horswill.
A watch recovered from the body of wealthy businessman who drowned in the sinking went for £180,000 at the same sale.
In addition, a seat cushion from one of the lifeboats, which features an original Titanic lifeboat plaque in the form of a White Star burgee, sold for £390,000.
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Its buyer was the Titanic Museum Attraction in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, and Branson, Missouri, and the seat is to go on exhibition, the auctioneer said.
Saturday’s auction at Henry Aldridge and Son in Devizes, west England, included 344 lots and the final sale prices include the buyer’s premium.
About 15 of the items were from the ship, which sank 114 years ago this month on its maiden voyage after leaving Cobh, Co Cork. Half the auction lots related to the vessel’s story more widely.
“I think these record-breaking prices reflect the ongoing interest in not only the Titanic story, but also her passengers and crew,” managing director at the auctioneers, Andrew Aldridge, said.
“Their memories are immortalised by these items of memorabilia.”
The life jacket lot included a newspaper photograph of the lifeboat number one group who survived after the liner sank in April 1912, costing 1,500 lives.
Francatelli was the secretary to fashion designer Lucy Duff-Gordon and was also accompanied on the trip by Duff-Gordon’s husband, Cosmo Duff Gordon.
The life jacket was expected to fetch up to £350,000. It is a rare example because it is one of few remaining original life jackets where the person who wore it is identifiable.
The safety vest, which was made by Fosbery & Co, comprises 12 cork-filled pockets of canvas with shoulder rests and side straps.
Following the disaster, Francatelli wrote at least two accounts of her experiences aboard the liner, but she was also a central character in what soon became one of the most talked about episodes of the entire tragedy.
Francatelli and the Duff-Gordons were among 12 people lowered into the North Atlantic on board the 40-capacity lifeboat.
Controversy arose when the occupants opted not to return to the spot where the ship had foundered in order to try to rescue at least some of the huge number of people floating in the icy sea.
The 18-carat gold case pocket watch up for auction was owned by first-class passenger, Frederick Sutton.
Sutton’s body was buried at sea, but his effects were placed in a white bag bearing the number 46 and taken to Halifax, Nova Scotia, on the MacKay Bennett ship, which helped recover passengers’ bodies.
His personal effects were collected by his family and remained with his descendants. – Press Association
