An exhibition of artefacts from the Titanic, the doomed luxury liner which tragically collided with an iceberg, taking over 1,500 lives on its maiden voyage from Southampton to New York, has been extended until July 31st 2011.

Today marks the 99th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic and while the ship itself is slowly decaying on the bed of the Atlantic Ocean, teams of salvage experts have managed to rescue thousands of items from the wreckage, bringing the Titanic back to life and preserving its memory.

The ‘Titanic: The Artefact Exhibition‘ at London’s O2, provides home to over 300 of these fascinating objects, including bottles of perfume, a hairbrush, a pocket watch and the official White Star Line chinaware.

The exhibition also recreates rooms from the ship, with some of the original parts of the ship on display, and visitors receive a replica boarding pass.

Conservation of these precious antiques are just as important to RMS Titanic, Inc, who have gone to great depths to preserve items and prevent further degradation, requiring a team of conservators, curators, registrars, archaeologists and historians.

The vice president of education for Premier Exhibitions, Cheryl Muré, said the exhibition had been seen by around 22 million people:

“What you see here are just some of the 5,500 artefacts from the seven expeditions we’ve made since 1987.

“The everyday objects are really compelling. When you’re looking at dishes and a china service, it makes you start thinking about the chefs on board, the 33,000 meals they had to prepare during the crossing, who might have eaten off the plate. Then there’s, whose hairbrush was that? Whose pipe?”

For more information regarding the ‘Titanic: The Artefact Exhibition’ please visit: www.titaniclondon.co.uk