Einstein's Violin Sells for £860,000 at Sale
The musical instrument previously in the possession of the famous scientist has gone for nearly a million pounds in a bidding event.
That 1894 model Zunterer is thought to have been Einstein's first violin and was originally estimated to achieve approximately three hundred thousand pounds during its under the hammer in South Cerney, Gloucestershire.
A book on philosophy which Einstein presented to a friend fetched for the amount of £2.2k.
The prices will be subject to an additional commission of 26.4% added on top, meaning the overall amount for the violin will exceed £1 million.
Sale experts estimate that after the additional charges are included, the sale could be the record for a string instrument not previously owned by a concert violinist or made by Stradivarius – with the prior highest sale being held by an instrument reportedly possibly performed aboard the Titanic.
Another cycling saddle also owned by the scientist failed to sell in the bidding and may be re-listed.
All items up for auction were given to his colleague and scientist von Laue during late 1932.
Not long after, Einstein departed to America to escape the rise of antisemitism and National Socialism in his homeland.
Max von Laue gifted them to a friend and follower of the scientist, Hommrich two decades later, and it was her great-great granddaughter who had decided to sell them.
A second violin formerly possessed by Einstein, that was presented to Einstein upon his arrival in the US during 1933, fetched during a bidding event for $516.5k (£370k) in NYC back in 2018.
