Stolen rare Stradivarius recovered in Britain
Print Edition
British police have recovered a rare Stradivarius violin worth 1.2 million pounds (US$1.8 million) that was stolen from its owner in a London cafe in 2010.
Thieves took the antique instrument, which was made in 1696, and two bows from Korean-born violinist Min-Jin Kym as she ate at London’s Euston railway station.
It was recovered from a property in central England last week, police said yesterday, without giving further details. Three people were jailed in connection with the theft in 2011.
“It’s been a very difficult journey, I still can’t quite believe what has happened,” said the 34-year-old violinist after the instrument was returned to her. “The loss of the instrument, and the acute responsibility I felt, was at the back of my mind at every moment of the day. I’d played the instrument since I was a teenager, so it’d been a huge part of my identity for many years.”
Police said the violin was discovered intact with very minor damage. It was found in its case along with a missing 62,000 pounds Peccatte bow and a bow by the School of Bazin worth 5,000 pounds.
The discovery comes after a false lead in March this year when police thought the violin had turned up in Bulgaria, only for it to be revealed as a fake around a century old.
Violins made by Italian Antonio Stradivari (1644-1737), considered by many the world’s most important crafter of stringed instruments, are extremely rare and valuable. There are probably no more than 600 still in existence.
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