'Titanic' violin sells for $1.5m

The violin reputedly played by the Titanic's bandmaster as the ill-fated liner sank has broken a world record, selling for £900,000 ($A1.5 million).

Titanic Violin

itanic band leader Wallace Hartley's Violin, who many say played as the ship sank, on display it Henry Aldridge and Son Auctioneers in Devizes, Wiltshire. (PA)

 

Wallace Hartley has become part of the ship's legend after leading his fellow musicians in playing as the doomed vessel went down, most famously the hymn Nearer My God To Thee.

Hartley and his seven fellow band members all died in the tragedy in 1912, in which 1500 people died after the ship hit an iceberg.

His violin, which had been a gift from his fiancee Maria Robinson, was apparently found in a case strapped to his body when it was recovered from the icy Atlantic waters.

Its re-emergence in 2006, when it was reportedly discovered in an attic in Yorkshire, prompted heated debate over its authenticity.

Titanic specialist auctioneers Henry Aldridge and Son insist nearly seven subsequent years of research and tests have proved it to be the genuine article.

Now the violin - accompanied by a leather luggage case initialled W. H.H. - went under the hammer with a host of otheritems from the ship at the public auction in Devizes in Wiltshire.

The violin had a reserve price of between STG200,000 and STG300,000 and was expected to reach as much as STG400,000 - however no one expected the instrument to fetch nearly STG1
million.

The previous record sale saw a plan of the Titanic used in the inquiry into the sinking in 1912 fetch more than STG220,000 two years ago.

The violin has been on exhibition since May at Titanic Branson and Titanic Pigeon Forge in the US, the largest Titanic museums in the world where more than 315,000 viewed it and later at Titanic Belfast, the award winning visitor attraction in Northern Ireland.

Earlier this week, Andrew Aldridge, a valuer with the auctioneer, took the violin to Hartley's hometown of Dewsbury in Yorkshire.




Share
2 min read

Published

Updated

Source: Press Association

Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world