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On April 11th Henry Aldridge and Son, the world’s leading auctioneers of memorabilia from RMS Titanic, held their first auction of Titanic and White Star memorabilia of 2003 at the British Titanic Society convention at the Hilton Hotel Southampton, England.
In the month running up to the sale the auctioneers sent out over 2500 leaflets to clients past and present and were rewarded with a good turnout at the sale. Although the situation in Iraq deterred a number of overseas clients from travelling, many of these clients instead chose to bid by telephone.
There were some unique items on offer from Titanic and these were led by a souvenir hat ribbon bought on board the Titanic by 2nd class passengers James and Lulu Drew for their nephew Marshall. Marshall and his aunt Lulu were saved but James perished in the sinking. James and Lulu booked passage to England aboard Titanic’s sister Olympic from New York. Young Marshall has recently lost his mother and it was thought that it was a good idea for him to visit his relations in Cornwall. The silk ribbon was offered directly from the family of Marshall Drew, who later grew up to be an award winning photographer and painter was estimated at £20000-£25000. A telephone bidder from the USA bought the ribbon for £34000 against interest from a British collector. One of the more interesting pieces on offer was an actual piece of the hand rail from the Grand Staircase of the Titanic. This piece of oak measured 12.5ins long and was recovered from the wreckage of the ship in April 1912 by the Captain of the Minia James Adams. The Minia was a cable laying ship from Halifax, Nova Scotia that was chartered by the White Star Line to pick up the bodies of souls lost in the disaster. This piece of oak was estimated at £18000-£20000 and sold for just under top estimate at £19800.
One of the images from the James Cameron movie Titanic that is viewed by many as one of the more poignant is the scene of Isador and Ida Strauss, the millionaire owners of the Macys store in New York resigned to their fate in their cabin as the Titanic floods and sinks below the waves. The piece in question was a signed affidavit stating that the bearer of the letter Mr Maurice Rothchild, nephew of Isa and Isador is authorised to take possession of their effects and convey them to New York. A rare item because it was going to be of interest to not only collectors of Titanic but also Judaica, as the Strauss’s were a prominent Jewish New York family. The letter sold to a collector from North America for £19000 against an estimate of £18000-£20000.
Further fascinating period items included a postcard sent from a 3rd class passenger Edward Lockyer from Kent which was sold for £6500 estimate at £6000-£7000, a postcard booklet showing views of the Titanic bought onboard by First class Passenger Stanley May Sold for £12000 Est £7000-£10000 and a A Ticket for the enquiry into the sinking of the Titanic in May of 1912 sold for £5000. The ticket itself was bought in a folio of paintings in a saleroom in the North of England.
The surprise of the day was a collection of postcards from the J.W. Barker series of cards from the Carpathia. These were views and images taken by Mr Barker onboard Carpathia of the survivors of the Titanic disaster being taken aboard the Carpathia. The collection sold for £8500, a new record price. Lower down the price scale, White Star Line china continues to sell well with First class side plates selling for £350, First Class cups and saucers selling for £500 and a damaged first class trefoil dish sold for £1200.
Henry Aldridge and Son are now accepting entries for their next Titanic and Ocean Liner auction on the 13th September 2003. Please contact either Alan Aldridge or Andrew Aldridge BA Hons MRICS for professional no obligation advise on 01380 729199.
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