R.M.S. TITANIC: First-Class Passenger George Widener. An ext...

Estimate

£40,000 - £60,000

R.M.S. TITANIC: First-Class Passenger George Widener. An extremely rare 22ct gold Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts George D. Widener memorial medal awarded in 1918 to Albert Laessle, the sculptor responsible for the design of the medal.

George D. Widener was from a prominent Philadelphia family of financiers and horse breeders. He died on the Titanic with his youngest son in 1912, and this medal was created in his memory being awarded from 1916. For generations the Wideners have supported art and education at the University of Pennsylvania and at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, where the Widener Memorial Medal is awarded annually to sculptors. On the reverse of Albert Laessle's medal a nude figure kneels beside a sphinx and holds a mallet and chisel, associating the prize-winner’s work with thousands of years of sculpture. The rarity of this medal is two-fold, firstly it is the gold variant which rarely if ever come to market and secondly, and most importantly, this is the medal that was awarded to the man who designed the medal itself so it is arguably the rarest and most desirable known.

George was the son of Peter Arrell Brown Widener, a member of the board of the Fidelity Trust Company of Philadelphia, the bank that controlled IMM, the owners of the White Star Line. Peter Widener was also an extremely wealthy streetcar magnate. George was heir to probably the largest fortune in Philadelphia. His mother was Hannah Josephine Dunton. He was born in Philadelphia on June 16, 1861. George, his wife Eleanor Widener, son Harry Elkins Widener and their two servants Edwin Herbert Keeping and Amalie Geiger boarded the R.M.S. Titanic at Cherbourg as First-Class passengers, holding ticket 113503. George Widener and his wife occupied cabin C-80, while Harry stayed in C-82. On the afternoon of April 14^th, Widener and his wife were standing on the promenade deck talking to J. Bruce Ismay when Captain Smith passed them on his way aft. Without comment he handed Ismay one of the ice warnings from the White Star liner Baltic, Ismay simply put the message in his pocket and headed below decks. Later that day Captain Smith joined a dinner party given in his honour by the Wideners in the ship's À la Carte Restaurant. The guests included, John B. Thayer and Mrs. Thayer, Major Archibald Butt, Clarence Moore and William Carter with his wife Lucile Carter. A little before 9 P.M. the Captain excused himself and headed for the bridge. After the ladies had retired, the men sat in the First-Class Smoking Room, talking. They were still there when the ship grazed the iceberg. Later, George and Harry escorted Eleanor, her maid, Amalie Giege to lifeboat 4. While the boats continued loading Colonel Archibald Gracie observed George Widener leaning against a railing in deep discussion with John B. Thayer, Mrs. Thayer had also boarded boat 4, while the young Jack Thayer had lost sight of his parents in the crowd (he later survived on Collapsible B). As the ship sank deeper, the Wideners and Mr. Thayer were joined by Charles Duane Williams. All four men died in the disaster. George’s body, if recovered, was never identified. After Widener and his son's death aboard the Titanic, a memorial service was held at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, where stained glass windows were dedicated in their memory. 5cm and 104.1g.