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Updated: 17:29
THE LONG-LOST VIOLIN which was played by the bandmaster of the RMS Titanic when he met his tragic end in the 1912 disaster sold at auction today for €1.06 million. The sum is a record fee for memorabilia from the doomed liner.
Wallace Hartley led a group of musicians in music as passengers of the ship scrambled for their lives on that fateful night.
All eight died along with 1,517 others.
Survivor testimony has revealed that Hartley played the hymn ‘Nearer, My God, To Thee’ into the early hours of 15 April 1912 to raise the spirits of those around him.
The violin he brought with him for the inaugural trip of the Titanic was made around 1880 in Germany. Attached to its dark brown case was a tailplate bearing a silver hallmark and engraved with the words: “For Wallace on the occasion of our engagement from Maria.”
Tim Ireland/PA Wire/Press Association Images
According to the auction house, Henry Aldridge & Son, the instrument is one of the most iconic collectables of the 20th century.
"It bears testimony to the courage and spirit of the Bandsman onboard the Titanic who played until the end on that fateful night," the catalogue reads.
The violin was expected to fetch about £200,000 at the sale in Wiltshire. A spokesperson for the auction house said today they were "absolutely overjoyed" with the result.
"It was sold to a UK collector who was bidding by telephone," they said. "The whole sale only took about 10 minutes."
Scene from A Night to Remember (YouTube: Zebonka)
"It is just a remarkable piece of history," said Andrew Aldridge. "I have been an auctioneer for 20 years, but I have never seen an item that brings out this degree of emotion in people before."
The violin was found at sea with the musician's body more than seven days after the ship sank. Aldridge said many tests have been carried out to ensure the authenticity of the item.
Also on sale at today's auction was the replica that was used in the 1997 Oscar-winning movie depicting the demise of the boat.
Additional reporting by the Associated Press and AFP.
Incredible bit of memorabilia. If I could afford it, I’d bid
Stupid waste of money
Chopstix,
It’s probably the most famous item ever recovered from probably the most famous disaster in the past century.
Hardly a waste of money.
Karol
I understand the significance of it and as a person who plays many instruments I can appreciate it on many levels I just feel like its a lot of dosh to splash out , if I was minted I would probably feel different but hey to its new owner Enjoy
He’s probably filthy rich so the mil is feck all to him.
Amazing piece of history. The Titanic continues to amaze people after all these years. It will be talked about in 1000′s of years from now a bit like a Greek tragedy. Not a victim of war or weather but of man’s ignorance and a chain of hard luck events that ended with the liner striking the iceberg.
Sounds like a fiddle to me…
Surreal
If 1517 was the final death toll, shouldn’t your sentence read ‘All eight died, along with 1509 others’?
Signed,
A. Pedant
So a ship sinks, 1,517 die, and people are paying a lot of money for stuff belonging to those who died.
That’s really classy…or bizarre. I haven’t decided yet.
‘Step into my library and look at all this stuff. It once belonged to people who drowned.’
It’s an item of historical significance and is therefore intrinsically valuable. For some reason the sinking of the Titanic has sunk into our psyche. It affects us more than other events where more people might have died. It’s still remembered more than 100 years on when other tragedies have faded from our memories.
I’m not surprised that people are fascinated by this item.
Every antique over a certain age belongs to someone who died, genius.
It should of went 2 the titanic museme in Belfast !!
You never know the bidder could have bought it for them!
£200,000?? Sure it’s missing 2 strings! You wouldn’t be able to play a proper tune on it at all!!!
Seriously though, remarkable quality from something that has been around for 101 years.
It was made in 1880s too, so its around 130 years old.
If he died playing how come it was with its case? Just wondering, maybe he put it in the case just before he died, now that is sad.
I will buy two
Indeed he did. He put it in its case and strapped it to his body.
Dunno why you got red thumbed for that.
I couldn’t give a fiddlers f uck.
Good man Jazz.
I would have expected it to go for more to be honest.
I heard the man who bought it lives on a roof
Heroic stuff
Are you smelling boss?
If I was a billionaire I’d would buy an amazing piece of history like this. However if there were any doubts about its authenticity, I wouldn’t. The fact of the matter is the historical records does not show that Wallace was recovered with his violin strapped to his body. Plus the inventory of items recovered on Wallace’s body makes no mention of a violin or music case or anything similar being found with him.
Also any exposure to sea water would have left damage to the the finish in the form of grey fogging. His body was recovered nearly two weeks after the sinking & 10 days exposure to the ocean would have resulted in the glue holding the violin together failing. Three expert luthiers have challenged the authenticity of the violin;
The things people would rather have than money.
It’ll be back up on eBay in a few months under the username “proceedsofcrime”. CAB watching fervently.
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