From Gambling Chips to Gloves: Here Are Three of the Most Interesting Artefacts Ever Recovered from the Titanic – Anglotopia.net

As historical events go, few hold such an enduring appeal as the RMS Titanic. Setting sail at noon on April 10th, 1912, it would take just four days for this unsinkable ship to end up at the bottom of the sea, taking 1,500 of its passengers and crew members with it.

The sheer scale of the tragedy ensured that the Titanic went down in infamy, but despite having been left to rot on the ocean floor for over 100 years, it continues to fascinate us and has many incredible treasures still waiting to be discovered.

Enduringly popular among historians and divers, the wreck site has been examined many times over, with each expedition bringing new and thrilling artefacts to the surface. Here are three of the most fascinating ever to be recovered.

One of the most interesting things about the items recovered from the Titanic is thattheyre able to offer us a unique insight into this historical period, while also revealing how those aboard the doomed ocean liner kept themselves entertained during their time at sea.

In some instances, these diversions were not so very different to the ways we occupy ourselves today, as in the case of a set of gambling chips which were recovered from the ships wreckage. Many modern travellers use their time aboard planes and boats in a similar way, although 21st-century technology means they no longer have to carry any gambling apparatus with them should they wish to play games like roulette or online blackjack at Paddy Power or another internet provider. Instead, they can play online using their phone.

Made from horn and discovered inside a suitcase, the chips belonged to first-class passengers Walter Miller Clark and Virginia Estelle McDowell Clark. The pair had chosen to travel on the Titanic after enjoying a belated honeymoon, but sadly Virginia would return to American soil a widow.

Despite this, her husbands legacy lived on, with the railroad hed built with his brother helping to facilitate the later creation of Las Vegas apt considering his apparent love of gambling. The chips were found in a small and highly fragile travel bag, which is now in permanent residence at the Titanic Conservation Laboratory.

While it may come as little surprise to hear that a violin was also recovered from the wreckage, given that there were many musicians employed on board, one particularly interesting artefact is an instrument that belonged to Wallace Hartley.

If you havent heard of him before, Wallace Hartley was the leader of the on-board band, whose bravery is immortalised in the 1997 blockbuster film. Vowing to carry on playing even as the ship went down, he is said to have soothed passengers with a final rendition of Nearer, My God, to Thee.

The violin recovered from the Titanic is believed to be the very one that he was playing on that fateful night in April 1912, which perhaps explains its astonishing price tag the instrument sold for 900,000 in 2013.

As you might imagine, fabric doesnt tend to last for long underwater, which is why a pair of white cotton gloves is cited as one of the rarest Titanic artefacts ever discovered.

The elegant gentlemans accessories are now in rather poor condition, but you can still make out their slender fit and fine detailing. Unfortunately, it is not known who might have owned them, but this makes them no less incredible with regards to their astonishing state of preservation.

The gloves formed an integral part of numerous Titanic exhibitionsbut were finally retired to a conservation facility in 2016, when they became too fragile to go on the road again.

Tell us, which of these artefacts would you most like to see for yourself?

Continue reading here:

From Gambling Chips to Gloves: Here Are Three of the Most Interesting Artefacts Ever Recovered from the Titanic - Anglotopia.net

Related Posts

Comments are closed.