UPDATE: |Prop used in famous Titanic scene worth £65,000 going under the hammer this month News

The instrument featured in the iconic 1997 blockbuster

The violin from the famous Titanic film is set to be auctioned and is expected to go for up to £60,000. The instrument, which features in the iconic sinking scene of the movie, is going under the hammer on April 26.

Played by Wallace Hartley as the ship goes down, the instrument is famous for leading the band as they try to calm down passengers of the doomed ocean liner – most famously by performing the hymn Nearer My God To Thee.

But the original screen violin can be seen multiple times in the 1997 blockbuster, not just during the sequence of the Titanic sinking.

Mr Hartley and his seven fellow band members were killed in the tragedy in 1912, in which a total of 1,500 people died after the ship hit an iceberg.

Violinist and actor Jonathan Evans-Jones played bandmaster Mr Hartley carrying on in the face of impending doom.

Mr Evans-Jones sold the violin in 2013 and it has been in the possession of a private collector since they purchased it at an auction.

The violin, which comes with a signed certificate of authenticity, is going under the hammer at Henry Aldridge & Son, of Devizes, Wiltshire, on April 26.

Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge said: “Having sold the original violin that was played by Wallace Hartley when the Titanic sank on April 15th 1912 in 2013 for £1.1 million, we are delighted to offer the violin that was played in James Cameron’s movie for auction, one of the highest grossing movies of all time.

“This is a true piece of movie history that will appeal to both Titanic and movie memorabilia collectors – it’s a true cross-collectible.”

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In the eponymous film, directed by James Cameron, Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet star as members of different social classes who fall in love during the ship’s maiden voyage.

As the ship sinks, Mr Hartley and his bandmates decide to play their instruments to offer some solace to the panicked passengers aboard the vessel – something generally accepted as true to real life.

The real violin, played in 1912 by bandleader Hartley, was given to him as a gift from his fiancée Maria Robinson and is currently on display in the Belfast Titanic Museum.

Selling for $1.7 million dollars – the highest price ever paid for any Titanic artifact – in 2005 at auction by Henry Aldridge and Son, the authentic artefact is considered one of the rarest and most iconic objects of the 20th century.

According to popular belief, Mr Hartley’s body was found two weeks after the boat sank still clutching his violin case.