Titanic related memorabilia comes to online auction

Auction house Henry Aldridge & Son has made a name for itself in Titanic memorabilia and there is plenty on offer at its next sale this month.

Many of the items directly related to the tragedy sell for thousands of pounds but there is a way to collect at lower price points. Here is a selection of items from the Titanic, Liner and Transport memorabilia sale on April 17.

RMS Titanic print

This RMS Titanic print (above) by artist Ken Marschall is signed by Marschall as well as survivor Millvina Dean (1912-2009). Dean was the last survivor of the sinking of the ship and at two months old at the time of the voyage, she was also the youngest passenger aboard. This Titanic picture is estimated at £60-100.

RMS Olympic light

RMS Olympic octagonal ceiling light estimated at £6000-£8000.

Titanic memorabilia remains in demand but other items from sister ships are also hugely collectable. This light was originally part of RMS Olympic. The 13in (33cm) octagonal ceiling light was one of the fixtures of the First-Class dining room and D Deck reception on the ship.

It would have originally been fitted with cut crystal shades but this example has opaque versions dating it to the refit of around 1920.

RMS Olympic was the lead ship of the White Star Line's trio of Olympic-class liners – the others being the ill-fated Britannic and Titanic. Unlike its stablemates, Olympic achieved a long service career of 24 years (1911 to 1935). When the ship was broken up, this light would have been removed and later was used in a cinema in Sheffield.

The ceiling light is now offered with an estimate of £6000-£8000 at the Henry Aldridge & Son sale.

Titanic bodies record

A list of the bodies recovered from the Titanic wreck. It is estimated at £12,000-£18,000.

The artefacts and memorabilia associated with the Titanic usually make for grim reading, detailing the tragedy that occurred when the Titanic sank in freezing Atlantic waters on April 15, 1912.

One of the lots in the April 17 sale is a record of the bodies recovered from the water after the disaster, alongside effects related to passenger John Jacob Astor.

The Commercial Cable Company steamer Mackay-Bennett was the first vessel chartered by the White Star Line in the aftermath of the sinking for the gruesome task of locating and recovering the bodies of the Titanic's dead. Of the 306 bodies which were recovered during the Mackay-Bennett's seven-day search, 116 were buried at sea and 190 were brought back to Halifax to a make-shift morgue.

To document each body recovered, the provincial coroner of Nova Scotia prepared a list of all 306 bodies, including their clothing and personal effects, headed, 'Record of Bodies and Effects, (Passengers and Crew S.S. Titanic), Recovered by Cable Steamer Mackay-Bennett including Bodies Buried at Sea and Bodies Delivered at Morgue in Halifax, N.S., Details Compiled from Records of the Mackay-Bennett'.

The list was not prepared for public dissemination but was created to provide an accurate, official record of the victims and to help in making any future identifications, as the entries also included physical descriptions.

Among the people recorded in this list is John Jacob Astor IV of New York, the richest man on board.

The hotelier and businessman’s body was brought to Halifax and the captain of his yacht Noma, Richard Roberts, was sent by Astor's family to identify the body.

The list to be offered at auction was taken by Roberts and is believed to be the only list given to a victim's representative.

The name R. Roberts with his Brooklyn, New York address is pencilled onto the free end page and the list remained in the Brooklyn, New York area until recently.

The record of the bodies is estimated at £12,000-£18,000 at the auction.

RMS Carpathia engine order telegraph

Engine order telegraph from RMS Carpathia estimated at £50,000-80,000.

RMS Carpathia was a Cunard Line transatlantic passenger steamship built in 1903 and is best known as the ship which rescued all of Titanic's survivors. Carpathia arrived in New York on April 18, 1912 where Titanic's survivors disembarked and the Carpathia resumed its regular voyage to the Mediterranean.

After being pressed into service during World War I by the British Admiralty, Carpathia was sunk on July 17, 1918 by three torpedoes fired by U-55 of the German Imperial Navy.

Four of the items recovered from the wreck are offered at the Henry Aldridge & Son sale. They have been conserved, but not restored. The lots are accompanied by a frame-worthy original Certificate of Authenticity signed by expedition leader PH Nargeolet who also led several expeditions to Titanic's wreck site.

There are four items offered from this ship and among them is this engine order telegraph from Carpathia's bridge used to signal the engine room.

It is estimated at £50,000-80,000.