Titanic survivor’s life jacket sells for record price

According to the organizers, the item belonged to first-class passenger Laura Mabel Francatelli. The life jacket bears signatures of its owner and other survivors from the same lifeboat.

The lot was the highlight of an auction dedicated to Titanic memorabilia held by Henry Aldridge & Son in Devizes, western England. The final price significantly exceeded the pre-sale estimate of $339,000 to $475,000. The buyer was an anonymous telephone bidder.

At the same auction, a seat cushion from one of the Titanic lifeboats was also sold for $527,000. It was acquired by the owners of Titanic museums in the United States.

Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge described the sale as a rare event, noting: "It's truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for a museum or collector."

He added that offering a fully authenticated item from a Titanic lifeboat with its original plaque is "totally unprecedented."

The Titanic sank in the early hours of April 15, 1912, after striking an iceberg in the Atlantic Ocean. The vessel went down within hours, and about 1,500 of more than 2,200 people on board lost their lives.

Earlier, it was reported that researchers at the Rijksmuseum confirmed the authenticity of the painting “Vision of Zacharias in the Temple,” created in 1633 by Rembrandt.