Titanic deckchair may fetch 80,000 pounds at UK auction

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London: One of a handful of deckchairs salvaged from the wreck of the doomed liner Titanic could fetch up to a whopping 80,000 pounds at an auction in UK.

The deckchair was found floating on the surface by the crew of the Mackay-Bennett, which was sent to recover victims' bodies after Titanic sank in the Atlantic waters on April 14, 1912.

The Nantucket wooden chair was used on the first class promenade deck of the ship and was believed to have been given to former crewmate Captain Julien Lemarteleur.

For the last 15 years it has been owned by an English Titanic collector who used it as a display item, 'express.Co.Uk' reported.

The deckchair is due to be auctioned at Henry Aldridge & Son in Devizes, Wiltshire, on April 18.

Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge said deck or steamer chairs from the luxury liner were "one the rarest types of Titanic collectable".

"The in-depth provenance documentation confirms the chain of custody of the deckchair through from Captain Lemarteleur in 1912 through to the present day," Aldridge said.

"Due to its fragile condition the chair was professionally but sympathetically conserved several years ago, it is estimated at 70,000 pounds to 80,000 pounds," Aldridge said.

The chair was one of six or seven recovered by the Mackay-Bennett and taken back to Nova Scotia, Canada.

About 1,500 people died when the Titanic sank after hitting an iceberg during its maiden voyage to New York from Southampton.