A life jacket of a Titanic survivor, put up for auction

The life jacket worn by Laura Mabel Francatelli, a first-class passenger who survived the sinking of the Titanic in 1912, will be auctioned on April 18 by the auction house Henry Aldridge & Son Ltd.

The jacket has been kept in the Francatelli family for nearly a century, having been sold previously at Christie's in 2007 for £60,000. Andrew Aldridge, the director of the auction house, emphasized the rarity of the artifact, noting that it is the only life jacket of a Titanic survivor ever to be auctioned. The jacket, made of canvas and equipped with buoyancy aids, bears the signatures of eight survivors from lifeboat number 1. It is estimated that the jacket will be sold for a sum between £250,000 and £350,000.

Laura Mabel Francatelli was the secretary of a fashion designer and survived along with her employer in the lifeboat, which had a capacity of 40 people but carried only 12 passengers on the night of the tragedy. The jacket was recently displayed at Titanic Belfast, a museum dedicated to the history of the Titanic.