Violin from famous Titanic film scene to be auctioned

Independent

09-04-2025

The violin played by the bandmaster in the Hollywood film depicting the sinking of the Titanic is expected to sell for up to £60,000 at auction.
The scene shows Wallace Hartley leading his fellow musicians in playing as the doomed ocean liner goes down, most famously the hymn Nearer My God To Thee.
Mr Hartley and his seven fellow band members were killed in the tragedy in 1912, in which a total of 1,500 people died after the ship hit an iceberg.
In the eponymous film, directed by James Cameron, Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet star as members of different social classes who fall in love during the ship's maiden voyage.
Violinist /actor Jonathan Evans-Jones played bandmaster Mr Hartley carrying on in the face of impending doom.
The original screen violin can be seen multiple times in the 1997 blockbuster and during the sequence of the Titanic sinking as Nearer My God To Thee is played.
Mr Evans-Jones sold the violin in 2013 and it has been in the possession of a private collector since they purchased it at an auction.
The violin, which comes with a signed certificate of authenticity, is going under the hammer at Henry Aldridge & Son, of Devizes, Wiltshire, on April 26.
Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge said: 'Having sold the original violin that was played by Wallace Hartley when the Titanic sank on April 15th 1912 in 2013 for £1.1 million, we are delighted to offer the violin that was played in James Cameron's movie for auction, one of the highest grossing movies of all time.
'This is a true piece of movie history that will appeal to both Titanic and movie memorabilia collectors – it's a true cross-collectible.'