Christie's NY To Sell Titanic Life Preserver: June 25 Christie’s New York annual Ocean Liner sale is scheduled to take place on June 25 at the Rockefeller Galleries and is led by a life preserver from R.M.S. Titanic.
News-Antique.com - Jun 12,2008 - TITANIC LIFE PRESERVER PROVIDES A POIGNANT
REMINDER OF THE INFAMOUS MARITIME DISASTER
Ocean Liner
June 25, 2008
New York – Christie’s New York annual Ocean Liner sale is scheduled to take place on June 25
at the Rockefeller Galleries and is led by a life preserver from R.M.S. Titanic. Never before seen
in public, and one of only six known to be in existence, the life preserver has been in the safe
keeping of a Nova Scotia family since being retrieved immediately after the 1912 disaster. It is
the first life preserver from the doomed ship ever to be offered for sale in North America, and is
estimated at $60,000-80,000. Last year, Christie’s London sold a similar Titanic life preserver for
$119,000.
The cork-filled canvas life preserver was recovered in Nova Scotia by John James Dunbar, and has
passed down within the family by descent since 1912. He traveled to Halifax to help with the
cleanup after the disaster, and the preserver was most likely found on the shoreline after the
sinking during an official beach-sweep recovery operation, although it is possible the preserver
was recovered in Halifax from one of the rescue ships, S.S. MacKay-Bennett or S.S. Minia. They
docked there after returning from assisting the rescue operation at the scene of sinking.
The preserver is in excellent condition, considering its age and time spent in the cold Atlantic
waters, and has oil stains, along with a missing makers mark. The lack of cut shoulder rests or side
straps indicate that this preserver was most likely retrieved from the shoreline or water alone – if
the preserver had been recovered from a disaster victim, these would have been cut when the
body was found.
The life-preserver is one of over 250 lots that feature in the Ocean Liner sale. This popular annual
Christie’s auction celebrates the golden age of ocean-going, featuring fittings, fixtures and related
ephemera from some of the grandest ocean liners, along with memorabilia from their respective
operating companies. Other lead Titanic lots include a rare second class passenger list carried off
the ship by 12 year-old survivor Miss Bertha Watt, along with her high school essay describing
the night of the sinking (estimate: $15,000-20,000); a Marconi Gram sent to her family by
survivor Helen stating, ‘Safe on Carpathia’ (estimate: $7,000-10,000); and a large display model of
the ship, built circa 1990 (estimate: $3,000-5,000).
Elsewhere in the sale are two important fittings from the S.S. France and the S.S. Norway, two of
the most celebrated liners of the age - a large glass and bronze Art Deco screen used on board
both ships depicting two female figures and a tree (estimate: $40,000-60,000); and a mid-century
French modernist chandelier designed by André Arbus used in the 1st class smoking room
onboard the S.S. France (estimate: $50,000-70,000).
About Christie’s
Christie’s is the world's leading art business with global auction sales in 2007 that totaled £3.1 billion/$6.3
billion. This marks the highest total in company and in art auction history.
