NEW YORK—The first Titanic life vest to go on sale in North America will be on public display beginning on Saturday at the Christie's auction house in Manhattan.
One of only six known Titanic life preservers remaining, the vest was collected by John James Dunbar during a beach recovery sweep in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Since its recovery after the Titanic's tragic sinking in 1912, the vest was passed down within his family, part of which now resides in Winsdor, Ontario.
The cork-and-cotton vest and is estimated to be worth $60,000-$80,000. Of simple construction, it bears visible water and oil stains. The cotton lining inside the vest is tattered from wear, revealing the blocks of cork inside.
Gregg Dietrich, Christie's New York's maritime specialist, believes that this vest was not removed from a victim but rather from a rescue ship or the water. Because of the damage salt water and abrasion would have inflicted on the victim's skin, the first thing rescuers would have done would be to cut off the shoulder straps to ease removal. This vest is completely intact.
Because cork is heavy, victims commonly suffered broken jaws resulting from the life preservers, according to Dietrich. "When they came out of the water, the vest would slam up," he explained. The vest weighs approximately six to seven pounds, according to Dietrich's estimate.
Dietrich estimates that about 99 percent of Titanic life preservers are either "reproductions or replicas," he said, recalling an instance when a man offered him life preservers that came from a museum gift shop. 'He didn't even know it," Dietrich said.
The vest is part of the auction house's Ocean Liners collection, which includes over 250 lots. Other items include an essay about the disaster written by a 12-year-old survivor and a couple of Marconi grams from survivors or their families.
Feeds