Life jackets worn by Titanic survivors will go up for sale this weekend in a rare auction described as a “once in a generation” opportunity.
The jacket, which is expected to fetch between 250,000 pounds (about $339,000) and 350,000 pounds (about $474,000), is the only jacket sold by a survivor of the 1912 tragedy, according to British auction house Henry Aldridge & Son.
The garment was worn by Laura Mabel Francatelli, a first class passenger on the historic liner that sank 114 years ago this week.
When RMS Titanic set sail on April 10, 1912, it was the largest passenger ship in operation and was considered “unsinkable.” Just four days later, at 11:40 p.m. on April 14, Titanic struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic, turning Titanic’s maiden voyage into an international tragedy. The Titanic, which sank in less than three hours, did not have enough lifeboats to carry the approximately 2,220 people on board. Only about 700 people survived.
Ms. Francatelli was the secretary of fashion designer Lucy Duff Gordon and was traveling to Chicago with her employer and her employer’s husband, Cosmo Duff Gordon. The three men managed to get into lifeboat No. 1 and returned alive.
The beige vest, signed by Francatelli and others who were rescued in the lifeboat, features 12 cork-filled canvas pockets with shoulder pads and side straps, according to listing information on the auction house’s website.
It is part of a wide-ranging auction of Titanic and White Star memorabilia being held at Henry Aldridge & Son this weekend.
The auction house’s managing director, Andrew Aldridge, said it was one of the “most iconic” items ever offered from the ill-fated ship.
“Quite simply, this life jacket presents a once-in-a-generation opportunity for collectors, and is the only example ever offered at auction by a Titanic survivor,” he said in an email to CNN on Thursday.
“The Titanic sank 114 years ago, but every man, woman and child on board had a story to tell. So there are essentially over 2,200 chapters and today we are showcasing those stories through these memorabilia. The life jacket is undoubtedly one of the most iconic items from the Titanic ever put up for auction,” he said.
Aldridge said the vest is being sold by someone who “decided it was time to pass the baton to another collector.”
The work has previously been exhibited at Titanic Belfast, a museum located on the site where the ship was built, and the world’s largest Titanic Museum in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
