Valuable violin turns up OK, but many questions remain (Update)

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | 12-31-2005 | Steve Rubenstein

[Cagey]

A $175,000 violin that was reported stolen turned up Friday on the steps of a San Bruno church, and San Francisco police said it was never stolen after all.

The violin, made in the 1700s by Italian craftsman Nicolo Gagliano, was recovered after a passer-by spotted it outside St. Roberts Church on Crystal Springs Road, according to police Sgt. Neville Gittens.

After the violin was turned over to San Francisco police, investigators again questioned Sabina Rhee-Nakajima, the San Francisco music student who told police Thursday that the violin had been stolen from the trunk of her car, which had been towed from a Western Addition supermarket parking lot.

Rhee-Nakajima then changed her story, Gittens said, and admitted that the violin had never been stolen and that she had filed a false police report.

Officers would not say whether Rhee-Nakajima was attempting to steal the violin or whether she would be charged with a crime. Gittens said she had not been offered leniency for its return.

The violin, along with three bows, was recovered undamaged.

The violin was on loan to Rhee-Nakajima from a music dealer who was attempting to sell it on behalf of its owner. Violin shops around the U.S. were alerted after the reported theft. Experts said it would have been extremely difficult to sell such a well-known stolen instrument or even to play it in public.

Early reports that the car towing company was involved in the violin's disappearance were also false,..........

[OldFriend]

Thank you so much for that Rockwell it captured the story of my father in law perfectly.

[AnAmericanMother]

Rockwell is (in my not particularly humble opinion) a VERY underrated painter -- just because he earned his living in "illustration". But so did N.C. Wyeth and Howard Pyle - two of my favorite American artists.

He lived in that neck of the woods - in the Berkshires, IIRC - so I'm sure he saw some of those local musicales.

[OldFriend]

I printed the picture and showed it to my husband. His dad is long gone and the picture made him so happy.

So again, thanks more than you can realize.

[AnAmericanMother]

I'm so glad that you and your husband enjoyed it.

I saw it when the Rockwell exhibition toured to Atlanta and happened to recall it. I'm glad I did!

[RightWhale]

The bow is often the more valuable, but in this case the violin has the collectable enhancement to its value. A bow might go for $10,000, not usually much more.

[OldFriend]

Freepers touching lives in so many ways. That's what makes this place like no other.

Happy New Year to you and yours....Jan

[Xenalyte]

What OF said . . . people are surprised at how many FReepers I've met in real life and am now fast friends with.

[afraidfortherepublic]

Find the names on the bows and look in the F-holes of the violins

And don't be fooled by the millions of "Stradivarious" labels out there. They are just copies!

[Doctor Stochastic]

Turns up OK? Does that mean it was still in tune? Or still in mean-tone tune? Or just unscratched?