Federal investigators are busy this Christmas season looking for a “smile” that stole a white Tesla that had an antique 18th-century violin that is said to be worth up to $ 900,000 inside the vehicle its owner left unlocked.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is asking for help from the public to locate the vehicle and a 1710 Amati violin that was taken by a thief in the Los Feliz section of Los Angeles on December 8th.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the instrument, made of maple and alpine fir, was said to be in excellent condition at the time it was stolen.
Auction records indicate that the violin was sold in 2013 for just over half a million dollars. If it was put up for auction today, it would probably get between $ 700,000 and $ 900,000.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is asking for help from the public to locate the vehicle and a 1710 Amati violin that was taken by a thief in the Los Feliz section of Los Angeles on December 8th.
The instrument, made of curly maple and alpine fir, was said to be in excellent condition at the time of the theft.
The violin was made by Girolamo (Jerónimo) Amati II, great-grandson of Andrea Amati, considered the inventor of the modern violin.
The violin was made by Girolamo (Jerónimo) Amati II, great-grandson of Andrea Amati, who is considered the inventor of the modern violin.
It belongs to Rowland Weinstein, an art dealer and gallery owner who divides his time between Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Weinstein allowed his musician friends and professional violinists to play the instrument.
On December 8, he left the violin in his white Tesla sedan that was parked outside his home and on his Los Feliz property.
That’s when someone opened the door, grabbed the violin and fled.
The owner of the violin, art dealer Rowland Weinstein, said he left it in his Tesla parked on the outskirts of his home, in the Los Feliz section of Los Angeles. Weinstein is seen in New York City in September 2014
Weinstein told the LA Times that his car key accidentally slipped out of his pocket and landed behind the driver’s seat.
The automatic locking mechanism only works when the driver grabs the key and exits the vehicle.
Since the key fell, Tesla’s doors have been unlocked.
According to the Times, Weinstein was carrying the violin because he thought the previous location where it was stored was not safe enough.
He only planned to leave the violin inside the car momentarily. When he returned, he realized the car had left and then called the police.
FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said authorities have so far been unable to track down the vehicle or violin.
Eimiller said there may have been a car thief in the area and the instrument was not the intended target.
“According to LAPD, it is believed there was a car thief in the area,” Eimiller said.
“It is possible that the person who stole it did not know the value and discovered it [later] and may try to pawn it or sell it abroad.
“Therefore, it is critical to get the information to the public so that, hopefully, someone who receives it or offers it can identify it and return it to its rightful owner.”
Weinstein offers a $ 25,000 reward to anyone with information that leads to the safe return of the violin.
He told the Times he was “heartbroken” by the robbery.
“I’m responsible for a piece of history and that piece of history got me away,” Weinstein said.
This is the second time Weinstein has been attacked by thieves. In 2011, Mark Lugo, of Hoboken, New Jersey, left Weinstein’s gallery in San Francisco after making a 1965 pencil drawing by Pablo Picasso, “Tete de Femme.”
It is very fragile. My biggest fear is that someone who doesn’t know what you have will put you in the wrong environment and get damaged or destroyed.
In October 2013, Weinstein paid $ 507,436 for the violin after it was auctioned off for sale at Tarisio, an online auction house.
Tarisio director Jason Price told the Times that rare instruments are appreciated annually.
If the 1710 Amati went up for auction today, it could get up to $ 900,000, according to Price.
Two years ago, another Amati violin that was made around 1700 was sold at the English & Hayday auction house in London for $ 917,453.
The Amati family of Cremona, Italy, is known to the inventors of the modern violin.
This particular violin was created during the “golden period” in violin making.
Although Weinstein is not a musician, he feels a sense of the historical responsibility of the artifact given the role of the family in its creation.
“I’m the caregiver,” Weinstein said.
Lugo, pictured above, served 16 months in prison for the robbery
“I feel very close to it because it is a part of history that has touched so many lives.
“Not just the lives of people who have been lucky enough to touch it, but those who have heard it for 300 years.”
This is the second time Weinstein has been attacked by thieves.
In 2011, Mark Lugo of Hoboken, New Jersey, known as the “Thomas Crown of Art Thieves,” came out of Weinstein’s gallery after taking a pencil drawing by Pablo Picasso from 1965, “Tete de Femme.”
The works were recovered by the authorities shortly afterwards and Lugo was arrested. He was sentenced to 16 months in prison.
Weinstein said he was baffled that he has been targeted by thieves twice.
“It’s beyond anything I had ever anticipated,” he said.
“I just hope the violin has the same happy ending as Picasso.”
The FBI is continuing to investigate the case, Eimiller said, and requests that anyone with information call (310) 477-6565.