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1642

Edward Herbert Keeping

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:NA Estimated At:100,000.00 - 125,000.00 USD
Edward Herbert Keeping

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Auction Date:2012 Apr 26 @ 18:00 (UTC-5 : EST/CDT)
Location:5 Rt 101A Suite 5, Amherst, New Hampshire, 03031, United States
ALS - Autograph Letter Signed
ANS - Autograph Note Signed
AQS - Autograph Quotation Signed
AMQS - Autograph Musical Quotation Signed
DS - Document Signed
FDC - First Day Cover
Inscribed - “Personalized”
ISP - Inscribed Signed Photograph
LS - Letter Signed
SP - Signed Photograph
TLS - Typed Letter Signed
Mr. and Mrs. George Dunton Widener from Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, boarded the Titanic at Cherbourg, France, with their son, Harry Elkins Widener, Mr. Widener's man servant, Edward (a/k/a Edwin) Herbert Keeping, and Mrs. Widener’s maid, Amalie Henriette Gieger. They had been in Paris with their servants searching for a chef for Widener’s new Philadelphia hotel, the Ritz Carlton. The Wideners were one of the richest and most influential couples on board. It was they who were standing on deck with White Star Line manager J. Bruce Ismay when Captain Smith handed Ismay the now iconic ice warning from the Baltic which Ismay then placed into his pocket. And it was they who hosted the now famous dinner party in honor of Captain Smith on the night the Titanic hit the iceberg. Questions have arisen as to whether Smith had imbibed too much alcohol at this party, but such rumors have never been substantiated.

Edward Herbert Keeping, Mr. Widener’s personal valet, was traveling on Titanic as a First Class passenger under a separate ticket and likely had a cabin on ‘C’ deck where other servants were staying. He had met his wife, Karin Johansson, who was from Sweden while they were both working for the Wideners as servants at the Widener estate. Johansson was home in Pennsylvania attending to their 3 year-old daughter when the disaster occurred. While Mrs. Widener and her maid were saved, the Widener men as well as Keeping died in the sinking. Keeping was 33 years old. His body, the 45th body recovered, was recovered by the chartered cable ship Mackay-Bennett.

Found amongst Keeping’s effects was a beautiful locket containing two photographs, one of his wife and the other of their daughter. The locket was officially recorded by the provincial coroner of Nova Scotia before it was returned to his wife, and is contained in the Record of Bodies and Effects: Passengers and Crew of S.S. Titanic (Body No. 45), Public Archives of Nova Scotia. Keeping’s wife replaced her daughter’s water damaged portrait with one of her husband and the locket has remained in Keeping’s family continuously until the present. It represents one of the most impressive artifacts with direct ties to the Titanic.

The circular 14k gold locket measures approximately 1.5 inches in diameter, weighs 11.6 grams, with the bail of the locket stamped “14K.” The front bears a relief engraving of a fairy with arms and wings outstretched, with six small Old European cut diamonds following the shape of her wings; the reverse is engraved “EHK.” Its inside bears two circular photos, the original of Keeping’s wife Karin, on the right, with a portrait of Keeping on the left, which his wife placed in the locket after it was recovered. After removing Keepings photo on the left, there is a hand-engraved marcking, “XX17,” which could have indicated what the locket originally sold for. While removing the photograph of Johansson on the alternate side, another photograph was discovered. This found photo is water damaged but a notation on the back of the photo states “Mildred, 1 yr.” A notation on the reverse of Keeping’s wife’s photo reads, “Mildred’s mama.” In fine condition, with Keeping’s wife’s portrait having some paper loss and staining owing to its submersion in salt water, and expected age wear and crazing to Keeping’s portrait.

The locket has been displayed at exhibitions throughout Europe including Spain, Portugal, Germany, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, and has been listed in numerous exhibition catalogs. It is discussed in Titanic by Claes-Goran Wetterholm (Prisma 1999) on page 85, and is pictured therein on page 136.

Original material relating to the Widener party on board Titanic is practically nonexistent as all three men were lost. Edward Keeping no doubt gazed at his family’s portraits while he was on the ship; he obviously loved them very much to have chosen the locket with their images to be among his last possessions and one he no doubt hoped to retain had he been saved. That the locket survived while Keeping did not is a testament to his love for his family: ultimately, he managed to save them but not himself. The rarity and beauty of this striking and poignant locket cannot be overstated.



Provenance: The locket has been on exhibition throughout Europe since 1987, with the locations and dates listed below.


1987 Maritime Museum, Stockholm 04/10/87 - 11/02/87
1990 Grythyttan, Sweden 04/07/90 - 05/06/90
1997 Hamburg, Germany 04/15/97 - 05/31/98
1998 Zurich, Switzerland 11/10/98 - 05/09/99
1999 Munich, Germany 10/15/99 - 03/15/00
2000 Postmuseum, Stockholm, Sweden 11/18/00 - 09/02/01
2001 Post & Tele Museum, Kopenhagen, Denmark
10/04/01 - 01/13/02
2002 Maritime Museum, Gothenburg, Sweden
04/10/12 - 12/15/02

Wiesebaden, Germany , Gothenburg, Sweden ,
Oslo, Norway, Kopenhagen, Denmark

2004-2011 Musealia, Spain, Barcelona, Spain
07/09/04 - 10/10/04
Porto, Portugal , Bilbao, Spain
Pamplona, Spain


2006 Granada, Spain

2008 Valencia, Spain

2009 Stockholm, Sweden 05/29/09 - 11/01/09

2011 Kopenhagen, Denmark
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