Rare Titanic first-class menu, pocket watch belonging to victim hit auction
Two rare artifacts from the infamous RMS Titanic are going up for auction this week.
A unique first-class menu from the dinner that took place on April 11, 1912 (three days before the Titanic sank) will be part of the auction along with a pocket watch owned by a second-class passenger, according to the U.K.-based auction house Henry Aldridge and Son Ltd.
"This snapshot into dinner on the evening of April 11th illustrates the glamour and opulent culinary delights that Titanic's first class passengers would have experienced," Andrew Aldridge shared with FOX Business.
"[The item] is a remarkable survivor from the most famous Ocean liner of all time"
The menu looks slightly different now in comparison to what it would have looked like that first evening due to signs of water immersion.
"This would point to the menu having been subjected to the icy North Atlantic waters on the morning of April 15th 1912 either having left the ship with a survivor who was exposed to those cold sea waters or recovered on the person of one of those lost," the auction house's description of the menu noted.
After speaking with a variety of leading Titanic collectors, it has been noted that this is the only surviving example of a first-class dinner menu from the night of April 11, according to the auction house.
This dinner menu likely served some of the ship's most respected guests, including: John Jacob Astor and Madeleine Astor, Benjamin Guggenheim, Sir Cosmo, Lady Duff Gordon, the "Unsinkable Molly Brown" and Isador and Ida Straus, Henry Aldridge and Son's website shared.
The menu includes dishes ranging from Crème D'Asperges and Squab a la Godard to Tournado of Beef a la Victoria and Mallard Duck with port wine sauce.
These dishes were apparently served to the guests shortly after the Titanic took off from Queenstown in Ireland.
The menu was found in a photo album from the 1960s belonging to Len Stephenson.
Sinai Kantor, 34, one of the victims of the sinking, was a Russian immigrant who was on his way to America with his wife, Miriam Kantor, age 24.
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Kantor's wife survived the disaster. Her husband's belongings, including the Swiss-made, silver-on-brass watch, were returned to her.
"It is a microcosm of time. When Mr. Kantor went into the cold North Atlantic on the morning of April 15th 1912, the watch stopped and became frozen in time. It’s a unique piece of history," Aldridge shared.
The watch includes numerals written in Hebrew figures, and the back of the piece is embossed with a design depicting Moses holding the Ten Commandments, the collectors described.
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"The watch's movement is heavily corroded as a result of immersion in salt water," the auction house reported, adding, "The hands are nearly all deteriorated and the dial heavily stained."
The auction will take place on Nov. 11 at 12:00 p.m. GMT.
The opening bid for both artifacts will start at £30,000 (more than $36,000). The menu is expected to sell for upwards of £70,000 (more than $85,000) while the watch may be auctioned for nearly £80,000 (more than $97,000).
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