Rare Titanic artefacts including first-class menu and pocket watch to go for auction

Two rare, unique artefacts will be up for auction from the infamous RMS Titanic, almost 111 years after the ship sank in 1912 claiming the lives of more than 1,500 people.

One of the items is a dinner menu from the ill-fated ocean liner's first-class restaurant. The menu, which is now damaged by water, is the only one known to exist for April 11.

Thought to have been recovered from the body of a victim, it shows what was served to the travellers on board the ship on the evening of April 11, 1912, as per UK-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 was quoted as saying by Fox News.

"It is a remarkable survivor from the most famous Ocean liner of all time," he added.

The menu included dishes like oysters, Squab a la Godard, Spring Lamb, Tournedo of Beef a la Victoria, mallard duck and Apricots Bourdaloue.

"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.

The menu belonged to Len Stephenson, a Canadian historian from Nova Scotia.

Interestingly, the victims' bodies were taken to Nova Scotia after the deadly incident, as per the auction house.

Stephenson had passed away in 2017 and the menu was recently found by his daughter who was going through his stored belongings.

Pocket watch

The other item that will be up for auction on Saturday (Nov 11) is a pocket watch which was owned by a Russian immigrant.

According to the auction house, the watch was recovered from the body of second-class passenger Sinai Kantor, aged 34, who was immigrating to the United States with his wife Miriam.

The stain on the watch shows that the hands were pointed at at 2:25, which was about five minutes after the ship sank.

“It’s literally frozen in time at that point, 111 years ago, when Titanic sank beneath the waves and Mr. Kantor went into the water," Aldridge was quoted as saying by The Washington Post.

The watch's movement is heavily corroded as a result of immersion in the Atlantic's salt water.

(With inputs from agencies)