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A life jacket worn by a survivor of the Titanic disaster is set to go under the hammer this weekend, with estimates placing its value between £250,000 and £350,000, marking it as a rare, one-of-a-kind offering tied directly to the 1912 sinking.
According to the British auction house Henry Aldridge and Son, the life jacket is expected to fetch a high price due to its unique provenance. It is described as the only example ever offered at auction that can be directly linked to a Titanic survivor.
The auction house’s managing director, Andrew Aldridge, characterized the item as one of the most iconic objects connected to the ill-fated ship. He noted that, in simple terms, the piece represents a “once in a generation” opportunity for collectors, emphasizing that it is the only life jacket from a survivor to have come up for sale.
The life jacket is believed to have been worn by Laura Mabel Francatelli, a first-class passenger aboard the Titanic.
She worked as a secretary to fashion designer Lucy Duff Gordon and was traveling with her employer and her employer’s husband, Cosmo Duff Gordon, on a journey to Chicago. All three managed to make it onto lifeboat number one and survived the disaster.
The Titanic set sail on April 10, 1912, as the largest passenger ship in service at the time and was widely regarded as unsinkable. However, just four days into its maiden voyage, it struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic late on April 14.
The ship sank in less than three hours, and the lack of sufficient lifeboats left many passengers without a means of escape. Out of roughly 2,200 people on board, only about 700 survived, making it one of the most well-known maritime disasters in modern history.
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