Titanic Iceberg Photo Goes On Auction Block (VIDEO)

This one-of-a-kind photo shows the iceberg involved with the sinking of the Titanic on April 15, 1912. The photo will be auctioned off later this month.

April 15 marks the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. A chilling reminder of the tragedy will go on the auction block a few days later -- a rare photo said to capture the iceberg that sank the supposedly unsinkable ship.

The black and white picture was taken by a passenger on the RMS Carpathia, the ship that rescued 705 survivors of the April 15, 1912, sinking, according to RRAuction, which is selling the photo and other Titanic artifacts online from April 19 to April 26. Also visible in the image is the hull of what the auctioneer said is a Titanic lifeboat that had saved lucky survivors from the icy Atlantic. Auction company vice president Bobby Livingston said the black and white iceberg photo has an estimated value of $5,000 to $8,000.

"It has impeccable provenance," Livingston told HuffPost. "It came from the estate of John Pillsbury Snyder, who survived the Titanic. All of his memorabilia was sold last year as one lot, including a letter written on Titanic letterhead and a letter from his brother saying how worried he was about him while trying to find out if he made it."

At the time of the voyage, Snyder was a 24-year-old Minnesota man returning from a two-month honeymoon tour of Europe with his new bride, Nelle. The couple was among 25 passengers heading for Minnesota and among the few who had experienced the ship's luxurious first-class quarters.

The photo itself was taken by Mabel Fenwick, a newlywed passenger on the Carpathia who struck up a friendship with the Snyders.

TITANIC PHOTOS:

As you might expect, the photo of the iceberg is getting a titanic amount of interest. An expert said it needs thorough study before it can be determined authentic.

Photo analyst Marc Dantonio said the picture quality resembles photos he owns that were taken during the same decade as the Titanic tragedy and it was definitely taken from a ship that steaming away from an iceberg.

"But I would need to see a photo of the Carpathia and need to see the lifeboat structure before I could determine if the photo was taken on the ship," Dantonio said.

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Comments

[subo tai]

02:58 AM on 11/27/2012

The photograph was probably taken by the captain of the Titanic himself...he probably wanted to get a better photo so he ordered the helmsman to "see if we can steer a little closer to that iceberg over there"...

[loopsparky]

05:49 PM on 04/04/2012

Of course that's the iceberg, The one next to it has a sign that reads, "It wasn't me."

[mcartri]

01:42 PM on 04/04/2012

How fortunate there was only one iceberg in the North Atlantic, April 14-15, 1912.

[Seliotis]

10:21 AM on 04/04/2012

You'd think they would have noticed a great big iceberg with an even bigger orange arrow pointing it out, wouldn't you?

[Wendyda]

07:51 AM on 04/04/2012

I thought the collision happened in the evening? I would think the berg they struck would have been much farther away by the time this photo was taken.
And then the article goes on to say that the photo was taken by a passenger on the Carpathia, When did they arrive? And the photo was never seen until now? With all the hoopla at the time?
It sounds fishy to me.

[Don Mathews]

09:21 AM on 04/30/2012

The collision happened around 12 AM but the Carpathia didn't arrive until 4 AM and was likely on the scene for a few hours i.e. well after the sun came up.

[buminthesun421]

12:54 PM on 04/03/2012

If you really want a picture of ice, people in Alaska are selling them alot cheaper.

[penhog]

12:46 PM on 04/03/2012

should have gotten the license plate number

[ttaylorssm]

12:41 PM on 04/03/2012

Yawn!

[er2blu]

12:32 PM on 04/03/2012

Interesting... too bad none of it can ever be verified. I guess if you have enough money... you can afford to part with it on things like this

[acarioti]

12:19 PM on 04/03/2012

Wow! I COLLECT photos of blury iceburgs! This is for me.

[Ironjam628]

12:53 PM on 04/03/2012

And so far away in the picture, too. DOUBLE BONUS!

[loopsparky]

05:50 PM on 04/04/2012

And off in the corner. Triple score!

[rhettphive]

12:14 PM on 04/03/2012

I have a picture of Bigfoot that's clearer than that. No wonder they didn't see it either.

[collectsrocks]

12:14 PM on 04/03/2012

The photo could be of any of the numerous icebergs in the rescue area and not the one the Titanic hit.

[rkeeeballs]

12:02 PM on 04/03/2012

Always wanted to buy a picture of an ice burg ! I can only go as high as $147.23 but if I was rich and stupid....the sky's the limit !...Good time to be a 1%er...........right lol...$

[Gilbert Albright]

09:24 AM on 04/03/2012

I seriously doubt the authenticity of this photo. Cameras at that time were large and bulky and had to be set up on legs or a table. Not the kind of thing tourist would carry around, or bother to take with them when escaping a sinking ship. And all the scamble to rescue survivors who would bother or think of setting up a camera to take a picture of an iceberg? At the ttime, ship was just another ship wreck, nothing special about it. So the was no reason to take of photo of the iceberg for posterity.

[sdmartintc]

11:39 AM on 04/03/2012

The Kodak Brownie camera was already out. The Brownie camera made photography possible for the average consumer since it was lightweight and small compared with the cameras you've described. So it's likely the photographer used a Brownie camera.

[Joe Lanzafame]

02:03 PM on 04/03/2012

yes, not only was the Kodak Brownie out, but the photo was taken by a "passenger on the HMS Carpathia". It doesn't say it was taken by a survivor of the Titanic. It only specifies that the Carpathia helped rescue survivors.

[xc700sonic]

08:54 AM on 04/03/2012

Just look at the dent on the iceberg and the dent on the Titanic, I'm sure there's got to be proof, some poeple just don't have a clue

[Joe Lanzafame]

02:04 PM on 04/03/2012

LOL. You're the first person to refer to the gaping gash in the hull as a "dent". :)

[loopsparky]

05:51 PM on 04/04/2012

The matchup is spot on.