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This enormous picture frame was thought lost to time—until it resurfaced in 2024, in the home of a family living in Sheffield.
This enormous picture frame was thought lost to time—until it resurfaced in 2024, in the home of a family living in Sheffield.
It once stood proudly within the First Class Smoking Room aboard RMS Olympic, framing “Approach to the New World”, a maritime painting by renowned British artist Norman Wilkinson. That painting now hangs in the SeaCity Museum in Southampton.
The Titanic’s Smoking Room was virtually identical to Olympic’s, and featured a similarly identical frame—this time surrounding another Wilkinson work: “Plymouth Harbour.”
Open until 11:30 PM, the Smoking Room was reserved exclusively for First Class gentlemen. The space was richly appointed in a deliberately masculine style, with dark mahogany panelling, blue and red patterned floor tiles, and softly backlit stained glass windows that gave the illusion of eternal daylight.
In a haunting moment recorded by survivors, Titanic’s designer, Thomas Andrews, was seen within the Smoking Room as the ship sank, his lifebelt draped over a nearby chair.
