A team of radiographers at a U.K. hospital have identified a violin that sank with the RMS Titanic 101 years ago and is believed to be the instrument played by band leader Wallace Hartley during the ship's ill-fated voyage.
Hartley's body was recovered from the water about 10 days after the ship sank, but the violin was not listed among the inventory of items found with him. However, a diary entry by Wallace Hartley's fiancé says the instrument was saved from the water in 1912 and returned to her.
Following her death in 1939, the violin passed to a local Salvation Army unit. It was later given to the current owner's mother in the early 1940s, according to BMI Ridgeway Hospital in Swindon. When the current owner wanted to sell the instrument, it needed to be authenticated.
The violin in question undergoing a CT scan to authenticate its origins.The hospital worked with auction house Henry Aldridge and Son to identify the violin via CT scans. The CT's 3D image allowed auctioneers to examine the violin's construction, interior, and the glue holding it together, the hospital said -- all of which were consistent with the instrument's age and condition.
The violin is due to go on display in the U.S. this month and will eventually go to auction, BMI Ridgeway Hospital said.
