It's been a long, cold journey, but the violin that soundtracked the Titanic's last moments as the ship sank has been found, a British auction house has confirmed.
When the Titanic struck an iceberg 350 miles south of Newfoundland April 15, 1912, the ship's band continued to play on the deck lead by Wallace Hartley on violin despite the surrounding chaos, even as the boat was sinking. Hartley's violin was one of the longest enduring mysteries to historians of the iconic shipwreck, and was thought to be a vanished relic of the past until the violin was confirmed recently. Many believed the violin had been lost somewhere in the icy waters of the North Atlantic Ocean along with the many of the other members of the ship's band.
Hartley was among the 1,517 people killed in the disaster, and his violin was long thought to have either sunk or been stolen off his corpse, according to The Huffington Post. News reports around the time of the tragedy suggested Hartley's body was found "fully dressed" with his instrument bound to his chest.
Somehow, the violin suddenly resurfaced in 2006. After conducting a "rigorous" battery of tests over a span of seven years that included analysis by government forensic scientists and Oxford University, costing thousands of dollars, the auction house Henry Aldridge & Son has officially confirmed the violin as the exact instrument played by Hartley as the Titanic plunged to the sea floor.
The auction house said it discovered during testing that the violin had indeed been found on Hartley's corpse after the shipwreck. The instrument was returned to Hartley's grief stricken fiancée, was donated to the Salvation Army, given to a violin teacher and eventually wound up at Henry Aldridge & Son.
"It's been a long haul," auctioneer Andrew Aldridge said, according to The Huffington Post. At first it seemed "too good to be true," he added.
While the instrument does exhibit signs of wear and some damage form sea water, it is reportedly "incredibly well-preserved."
A source with intimate knowledge of the auction house claims the violin is estimated at six figures.
"We are talking about high six figures. There will be worldwide interest. All the tests have proved its authenticity so far. There is just one final test left and the results are due in early March. If that confirms the authenticity then it will be sold," said an unidentified source to The Daily Mail.
"It is the most iconic and important item ever connected to the Titanic to come up for sale."
The violin will be auctioned off April 20, according to The Daily Mail.
