Titanic furniture that inspired Kate and Leo’s life raft goes on display
THE largest fragment of the Titanic to be recovered is to go on display, returning to Britain for the first time since the ship’s doomed maiden voyage. The wooden panel, measuring just over 3ft long, decorated the over-door to the first-class lounge and split in two when the ship went down in April 1912.
To those who have seen the 1997 Titanic film, it may look familiar. When Kate Winslet and Leonardo Dicaprio are pitched into the water, the life raft to which they cling is a faithful replica of the panel. The real thing was salvaged during the rescue operation and ended up in the Maritime Museum of Halifax, Nova Scotia, and will feature in Ocean Liners: Speed & Style, which opens in February 2018 at the V&A. Ghislaine Wood, co-curator, said: “It was only when one of our researchers watched Titanic and saw Kate Winslet floating on the panel that we realised it was the same design.”
The exhibition celebrates the golden age of ocean travel and includes France’s Normandie, which entered service in 1935. The Duke and Duchess of Windsor once boarded the SS United States with 100 pieces of monogrammed luggage. A smaller selection of their cases will be on display.