Bonhams’ specialists have found a stolen violin

A rare English violin will be returned to its owner after experts at Bonhams Auctioneers identified it as a stolen instrument covered by Allianz Cornhill Musical Insurance. The violin belonged to Alan Brind, Young Musician of the Year 1986, who had it stolen from the back of his car in June 2004.

The looted violin was brought to Bonhams by an unsuspecting trader and immediately caught the eye of the Head of Musical Instruments at Bonhams. The violin was identified as a rare English instrument by Edward Lewis, dating circa 1740. Experts soon came across a violin on the Allianz Cornhill stolen instruments list, which matched the description of the presented instrument. By now only few examples of Lewis’s work has survived.

The owner of the exceptional piece is a 36-year old Alan Brind, BBC’s Young Musician of the Year 1986, at present one of Britain’s leading orchestral violinists. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music, and now plays with the Philharmonia Orchestra, the London Chamber Orchestra, and the English Chamber Orchestra.