Titanic sister ship fittings removed from Northumberland home to be auctioned

Two lots light fittings salvaged from RMS Olympic are to be offered at Anderson & Garland's Country House and Fine Interiors auction on Thursday October, 1, held at Anderson House in Newcastle.

Lot 447, estimated at £5,000 to £8,000, is a fine brass three branch ceiling light fitting of scrolling form with cut glass acorn shades, each measuring 46cm wide overall. It is believed to have been removed from the ship's First Class Smoking Lounge.

Lot 448, estimated at £5,000 to £10,000, is a fine pair of ormolu and cut glass ceiling light fittings, each of inverted dome form with acanthus leaf decoration and a hobnail cut glass dome, fitted for three bulbs.

Removed from a house in Northumberland approximately 30 years ago and kept in storage since, the fittings are believed to be from the ship's First Class Grand Staircase.

The White Swan Hotel in Alnwick also still houses the magnificent first-class lounge and other salvaged interior fittings from the ship.

Olympic salvage has performed strongly at Anderson & Garland in recent years. A matching pair of brass three branch fittings from the Smoking Lounge, sold for £23,400 in December 2023, comfortably over estimate.

In a 2024 Country House sale, a further group of fittings from the ship, including a pair of ormolu and cut glass ceiling lights identical in design to lot 448, made over £72,000 across three lots.

RMS Olympic was the lead ship of the White Star Line's Olympic class trio and the elder sister of Titanic and Britannic.

Unlike her short-lived siblings, Olympic enjoyed a 24 year career between 1911 and 1935, including wartime service as a troopship that earned her the nickname Old Reliable.

Withdrawn from transatlantic service in 1935, she was sold to Sir John Jarvis for £97,500 and partially demolished at Jarrow to provide work for the depressed region, with her fittings auctioned off before scrapping began.