Titanic Survivor's Life Jacket Sells For £670,000 At Auction, Lifeboat Cushion Fetches £390,000

London: A life jacket worn by a first-class passenger who escaped the sinking of RMS Titanic has been sold at auction for £670,000, or about $906,000, after fierce bidding in Devizes on Saturday. The cork flotation device, used by Laura Mabel Francatelli as she left the stricken liner in a lifeboat, drew bids from around the world before going to an unnamed telephone buyer.

The life jacket was the centrepiece of a dedicated Titanic memorabilia sale held by Henry Aldridge & Son auctioneers in the market town in western England. It had been expected to make between £250,000 and £350,000, but the final hammer price far exceeded those forecasts. The jacket carries signatures from Francatelli herself and from fellow survivors who were in the same boat, adding to its provenance.

Apart from the life jacket, also under the hammer was a seat cushion from one of the Titanic’s lifeboats, which sold for £390,000, or around $527,000. It was acquired by the owners of two Titanic museums in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, and Branson, Missouri. Both prices include the buyer’s premium, the standard fee charged by the auction house.

Enduring Fascination With Disaster That Claimed 1500 Lives

After the event, Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge said the record-breaking sums reflected the public’s continuing connection to the Titanic story and the respect felt for those who lived through it. “These record-breaking prices illustrate the continuing interest in the Titanic story, and the respect for the passengers and crew whose stories are immortalised by these items of memorabilia,” he said.

The Titanic remains one of the most studied maritime disasters in history, partly because of the breadth of society on board. When it struck an iceberg off Newfoundland on its maiden voyage from England to New York, the liner was carrying everyone from the wealthiest industrialists to emigrants seeking new lives. Marketed as the world’s most luxurious ship and described as practically unsinkable, it went down within hours on April 15, 1912. Around 1500 of the 2200 passengers and crew lost their lives. 

What Was Controversy Surrounding Lifeboat No. 1

As per information, Francatelli was travelling with her employer, the fashion designer Lucy Duff Gordon, and Lucy’s husband Cosmo Duff Gordon. All 3 survived aboard Lifeboat No. 1, which was launched with only 12 people on board despite being built to hold 40. The boat’s failure to return and rescue others from the freezing Atlantic later became a source of controversy and public criticism.

While Saturday’s life jacket sale set a new high for a piece of Titanic clothing, the overall record for a Titanic artefact remains the £1.56 million, nearly $2 million at the time, paid in 2024 for a gold pocket watch. That watch had been presented to the captain of RMS Carpathia, the vessel that rescued around 700 survivors from the disaster.

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