"Up for Auction for the First Time in 114 Years: The Titanic Life Jacket Seen in Museums, Expected Price Is..."

A life jacket actually worn by a survivor during the Titanic disaster, which sank in 1912, is coming up for auction for the first time in 114 years.

On April 16 (local time), foreign media outlets including CNN reported that the life jacket will be auctioned this weekend by the British auction house Henry Aldridge & Son. The expected winning bid is between 250,000 and 350,000 pounds (approximately 500 million to 700 million won).

This life jacket is known to have been worn by Laura Mabel Francatelli, the secretary to British fashion designer Lucy Duff-Gordon, who was a first-class passenger at the time. She survived after boarding lifeboat No. 1 together with the Gordon couple.

A life jacket of a Titanic survivor is up for auction. Screenshot from Henry Aldridge & Son website.

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The item is made of canvas filled with cork, and bears the signatures of other survivors who were on the same boat at the time of rescue. This life jacket has previously been exhibited at the Titanic Museum in Belfast and the Titanic Museum in Tennessee, USA.

The auction house stated, "Among Titanic-related artifacts, this piece is especially symbolic," adding, "This is the first time a survivor's life jacket has been offered at auction." They also described it as "an opportunity that might come only once in a generation."

The Titanic was a luxury passenger liner built by British shipbuilder Harland & Wolff and operated by the shipping company White Star Line. At the time, it was regarded as a symbol of wealth and technological prowess. Measuring about 269 meters in length, it was among the largest ships in the world, and its first-class section was equipped with luxurious facilities such as a swimming pool, gymnasium, and fine dining rooms. However, after departing from Southampton, England, on April 10, 1912, the Titanic struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic just four days later and sank.

About 2,200 passengers and crew were on board, and more than 1,500 lost their lives, making it one of the deadliest maritime disasters in history. In particular, the ship had been promoted as "unsinkable," and the lack of sufficient lifeboats for rescue led to significant controversy and lessons learned afterward.

Seventy-three years later, in 1985, the wreckage of the Titanic was discovered on the seabed about 600 kilometers south of the coast of Newfoundland, Canada. It has since been listed as a UNESCO underwater cultural heritage site. In 1997, the story was adapted into a film directed by James Cameron and starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet.

An official from the auction house commented, "There are over 2,200 stories on the Titanic," emphasizing the importance of sharing each passenger's story through such artifacts.

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