Northern Ireland

Brandy flask belonging to Titanic passenger sold at auction for £76,000

The silver brandy flask, belonging to a passenger on the Titanic, sold for £76,000 at an auction in England. Picture by Henry Aldridge & Son 
The silver brandy flask, belonging to a passenger on the Titanic, sold for £76,000 at an auction in England. Picture by Henry Aldridge & Son  The silver brandy flask, belonging to a passenger on the Titanic, sold for £76,000 at an auction in England. Picture by Henry Aldridge & Son 

A FLASK belonging to a passenger on the Titanic has been sold for £76,000 at auction.

As the ship was sinking, Helen Churchill Candee - who survived - handed the silver brandy flask to Edward Kent, who died, and the flask was found when his body was recovered.

Mrs Churchill Candee's flask was engraved with her family's motto 'Faithful but Unfortunate'.

She had told her friend Mr Kent, who was travelling in first class: "You stand a better chance of living than I."

He perished along with more than 1,500 people in the disaster in April 1912.

The BBC reported that the flask had been returned to the Churchill Candee family by a relative of Mr Kent's along with a letter of explanation.

Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge, of Henry Aldridge and Son in Wiltshire, said the flask was an "incredibly powerful and poignant piece".

Although "badly out of shape" more than a century on, it was described as "one of the most powerful and emotive three-dimensional objects" from the Titanic to ever be offered for auction.

Other items belonging to passengers which were auctioned off included a Titanic lifeboat plaque, sold for £45,000, a "Hands Across the Sea" postcard, for £38,000, and a letter written by the liner's steward, Richard Gedde, which fetched £15,000.