The violin used by the bandmaster in the Hollywood film Titanic, in a poignant scene depicting the string quartet playing “Nearer, My God, to Thee” during the ship’s sinking, is expected to fetch up to £60,000 at auction with Henry Aldridge & Son in Wiltshire at the end of the month. As the rising water closes in, violinist and actor Jonathan Evans-Jones, portraying Titanic bandmaster Wallace Hartley, delivers the iconic line: “Gentlemen, it has been a privilege playing with you tonight.”
Bandleader Wallace Hartley and his fellow musicians perished along with 1,500 others when the ocean liner struck an iceberg in 1912.
The Oscar-winning film, directed by James Cameron, features Kate Winslet as the upper-class socialite Rose and Leonardo DiCaprio as Jack Dawson, a third-class passenger, aboard the ill-fated ship on its maiden voyage.
Wallace Hartley’s violin, believed to have been played to soothe passengers during the Titanic‘s sinking, sold for £900,000(approx. $1.13 million) in 2013.
Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge said in a press release: “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.”
Mr. Evans-Jones sold the violin at auction in 2013, and it has since remained in private hands. Now, accompanied by a signed certificate of authenticity, the instrument will be auctioned by Henry Aldridge & Son in Devizes, Wiltshire, on April 26, with an estimated value of up to £60,000.
