‘Treasure trove’ of Titanic and JFK memorabilia going under the hammer

A telegraph machine from the ship which rescued Titanic survivors, along with a wedding ring and messages from some of those saved, are going under the hammer in an online action.

The auction also features a collection of (former US president) John F Kennedy memorabilia including a Louis XVI-style bronze twin-light bouillotte lamp, which was in situ at the White House during his presidential term and has a guide price of £15,000-£20,000 (17,000-23,000 euro).

Elsewhere, a communication device from a vessel involved in rescuing passengers is among the lots associated with the Titanic.

The RMS Carpathia saved more than 700 people after receiving a message from the doomed liner that it had struck an iceberg on the morning of April 15 1912.

After ordering full steam and navigating around an ice field, Carpathia reached Titanic’s position an hour and a half after the “unsinkable” ship began its plunge to the Atlantic’s depths.

It arrived in New York three days later where 705 survivors disembarked before the vessel resumed its regular voyage to the Mediterranean.

The ship’s bridge engine order telegraph, valued between £20,000-£30,000 (23,000-34,500 euro), was salvaged from the wreck of the Carpathia, which was sunk off the west coast of Ireland by a German submarine in 1918.

The lots form part of what auctioneer Gormleys calls its Signature Sale, bringing together moments of Irish, international and pop-culture history.

“This auction features a treasure trove for Titanic collectors. Also included are messages from survivors transmitted from the Carpathia on April 17 1912, reading ‘All safe, Lucile’ and ‘Saved cable me New York, Charlie’,” said antiques expert Niall Mullen, a consultant to the auction.

“The signals, valued between £2,000-£4,000 (2,300-4,600 euro) are hand-written on Marconi headed paper stamped Carpathia and are secured to an album page.

“There is also a 14-carat gold wedding band worn by Titanic passenger Selma Asplund during her rescue, until her death in 1965.”

The auction also features a rare report into the findings of the British investigation into the sinking of the Titanic.

The inquiry heard from more than 100 witnesses over 42 days from May 2 to July 3 1912 and the report, valued between £600-£1,000 (700-1,200 euro), was published on July 30 1912.

A record of passengers and crew on board the Lusitania when it was sunk off Cork in 1915 is also listed. It appears to have been in use in the office of the Cunard Company in Liverpool in the wake of the sinking.

Also included is an Elgin pocket watch which was recovered from the wreckage of the Titanic’s sister ship in 1982.

In the same year, it was announced that the amount of ammunition on board the Lusitania’s wreck posed a danger to salvage teams.

Also up for sale is a copy of Life magazine’s Inaugural Spectacular signed by Kennedy, a Jefferson Golden Hour electric clock used by the late president prior to his tenure in the White House, and two letters and photographs sent by his widow Jackie Kennedy (then Onassis) to Democratic politician Daniel Patrick Moynihan.

Among the other items in the sale is a bronze sculpture by Irish artist F E McWilliam, which survived the 9/11 terror attacks on New York.

Anthropomorphic Bean was presented by a leading industrialist H Dieter Holterbosch to the historically ill-fated investment bank, Lehman Brothers, which went under in 2008.

It was displayed in the World Financial Centre, New York, and survived the collapse of the Twin Towers on 9/11.

Viewings for these items will take place at Gormleys Belfast until November 11, with the timed online auction closing on November 14 at gormleysartauctions.com.

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