R.M.S. TITANIC: R.M.S. TITANIC: TABLE MADE FROM TITANIC WRE...

Hammer

£30,000

R.M.S. TITANIC:

R.M.S. TITANIC: TABLE MADE FROM TITANIC WRECK WOOD. A handmade occasional/games table. The table is supported by four wooden legs and is functional. Oral history related that it was acquired from a family in Halifax, Nova Scotia, having originally come from a carpenter who crafted it from Titanic wreck wood, according to information obtained from the website of the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in Halifax, Nova Scotia. 43cm x 44.5cm. With an additional lower platform measuring 30cm x 30cm and an overall height of 76cm.

http://museum.gov.ns.ca/mma/research/titanicfaq.html states the crew of the Halifax ships followed a very old tradition of keeping fragments of notable shipwrecks as reminders or commemorative objects. It further states that anonymous pieces of wrecked woodwork were often carved into various objects which were not sold commercially but kept by the family of mariners who recovered bodies as a reminder of their family role.

Noted Titanic memorabilia collector Craig Sopin has examined the table and has confirmed that the table's distinctive inlaid pattern appears to be in the style of William J. Parker. Parker was the carpenter on board the Minia, the second vessel chartered by White Star Line to recover bodies of Titanic victims. Parker was known to fashion various objects from Titanic wreck wood retrieved by the Minia.

The table had previously supported an electric lamp on its upper surface and several books below. It could be put to practical use as a table or nightstand, used as a chessboard, or just displayed as is. Either way, it represents one of the scarce examples of three-dimensional objects crafted from Titanic's abundant flotsam.