Titanic Lifeboat Seat Cushion Expected to Sell for £180,000 at Auction

A unique canvas seat cushion and fender from an R.M.S. Titanic lifeboat is expected to sell for as much as £180,000 (approximately $238,000) at an auction scheduled for April 18, 2026.

The item is part of a larger collection of Titanic, White Star, and transport memorabilia being auctioned by the British auction house Henry Aldridge and Son Ltd.

The lot, identified as Lot 315, consists of a canvas lifeboat fender and seat cushion featuring four brass eyelets. The item is paired with a lifeboat plaque in the form of a red White Star burgee and an original length of rope from the liner.

Provenance and Documentation

The seat cushion includes an original Meyer sales tag. According to the documentation accompanying the lot, the tag reads: #25 Original lifeboat seat and plate taken from one of Titanic ‘s lifeboats sunk by large iceberg.

The accompanying plaque is identified as being from lifeboat 2.

Context of Titanic Memorabilia Auctions

This auction follows previous sales of artifacts from the 1912 sinking. Henry Aldridge and Son Ltd. Has previously handled the sale of passenger memorabilia, including items recovered from the ocean floor.

In November 2023, the auction house offered a rare first-class menu dated April 11, 1912, which was discovered in a photo album belonging to Len Stephenson, a community historian from Nova Scotia, Canada. The menu, which listed dishes such as Salmon Hollandaise and Squab à la Godard, was estimated to sell for between £50,000 and £70,000.

Other high-value Titanic artifacts have included bronze nameplates from the ship’s lifeboats that read S.S. Titanic, which have also appeared at auction.

The current auction for the lifeboat seat and fender is set to take place live on April 18, 2026, at 12:00 BST.