Henry Aldridge & Son offered the lots at its Titanic & Liner Auction on April 21, which made an overall auction total of around £330,000.
The menu for the first meal served on the ill-fated ship had been owned by Titanic second officer Charles Lightoller, the most senior member of the crew to survive the Titanic disaster. It sold for a hammer price of £80,000, a record for a menu from the ship.
The menu was previously auctioned in 2003 when it sold for £28,000 at Sotheby’s, and a similar menu, with a strip missing at the bottom and owned by fifth officer Harold Lowe, sold at £51,000 at Aldridge’s in 2004.
The postcard-size Lightoller menu on cream card is embossed with a red White Star Line flag logo, a gold-coloured Oceanic Steam Navigation Company logo and the Titanic logo. The meal, which included Consommé Mirrette, Salmon and Golden Plover on Toast, was served on Tuesday, April 2, which was the first day of the Titanic's sea trials before its doomed voyage.
When this menu sold at auction in 2003 had been consigned by Lightoller’s descendants, who said it had been given to his wife Sylvia as a souvenir as he departed from Southampton on April 10.
This steward’s badge for third class Titanic steward Thomas Mullin who died onboard the ill-fated liner. It sold for a hammer price of £46,000 at auction.
At the same sale on April 21, a steward’s badge for third class Titanic steward Thomas Mullin, who died in the disaster, sold for a hammer price of £46,000.
The badge came by descent through the family of Mullin and was sold at Henry Aldridge & Son in April 2004 to the current vendor who consigned it to this latest auction.
A chart room brass key from the Titanic previously owned by Samuel Hemming.
Another highlight on April 21 was a chart room brass key previously owned by Samuel Hemming, the Titanic's lamp-trimmer.
This key, alongside Hemming's lamp trimmer's key, which Henry Aldridge & Son sold in March 2012, was sold at auction in April 1992. They had both belonged to Hemming and had remained with the same owner until now.
Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge said: “At the top end there is a finite supply. Collectors will go the extra mile for items they may not see again for another decade. Many of the items in this sale have been sold before but it has been more than a decade for many.”
Aldridge added: “We have an extensive database of Titanic collectors but we also market the sales widely across the media.”
Titanic letters often perform well at auction. Another lot in the April 21 sale was a letter written on the Titanic by second class passenger and survivor Kate Buss.
Dated April 10, 1912, Buss’ letter is written over four sides in black ink. She details her experience on board in the first days of her journey.
Buss was saved in lifeboat number nine when the Carpathia rescued Titanic survivors. The letter sold for a hammer price of £20,000.
