Each night the sun sank right in our eyes along the sea, making an undulating glittering pathway, a

Jean Dupas, set of five panels depicting the Chariot of Thetis, c. 1934, verre églomisé.

golden track charted on the surface of the ocean which our ship followed unswervingly until the sun dipped below the edge of the horizon, and the pathway ran ahead of us faster than we could steam and slipped over the edge of the skyline—as if the sun had been a golden ball and had wound up its thread of gold too quickly for us to follow,” recalled Lawrence Beesley, a Titanic survivor, in his 1912 book The Loss of the S. S. Titanic. This maritime tragedy would continue to fascinate the world in general but hold particular allure for collectors of ocean liner memorabilia.

“Collectors view ocean liners as the ultimate romantic fantasy, symbols of glamour and luxury,” says Richard Faber, a New York private dealer who sells ocean liner memorabilia. Owning a link to the golden era of passenger ships is one reason why collectors stream into Christie’s New York and bid on ephemera such as the painted cast-bronze house flag and name board from one of the Titanic’s lifeboats. It was the top lot at last year’s sale at $72,000, against a $50,000 to $70,000 estimate. This year’s sale was scheduled for June 28.