Prize-winning musician issues urgent appeal for return of 300-year-old violin worth tens of thousands she was due to play at the Proms after she left it on a train
- 'Devastated' Jane Gordon forgot the Maggini violin was in the luggage rack
- A passenger is thought to have left the train with it at a London station
- Police have released CCTV in a bid to find the cherished instrument
Jane Gordon with her beloved violin. She's offering a reward for its safe return
A devastated concert violinist has appealed for help to find her cherished 300-year-old instrument after she accidentally left it on a train in London.
Jane Gordon, 37, was travelling from Waterloo to her home in Twickenham after rehearsing for two Proms she's playing in next month.
But she alighted at St Margaret's station, forgetting her valuable Italian Maggini violin was in the luggage rack.
'I'm absolutely distraught – it's like losing a member of your family, you develop a relationship with an instrument,' she told MailOnline.
'It's 300 years old and it's a special violin. I've owned it for four or five years.'
CCTV footage shows the rare musical instrument, which was in a case, remained on the luggage rack for three hours after Ms Gordon left it on Monday August 22.
It was removed by a passenger who got off the train at the unmanned Queenstown Road rail station in London at around 6.50pm.
British Transport Police have released images of a man and woman thought to have information about what happened next.
British Transport Police want to hear from these people, as they think they might know what happened to the violin
This woman, who was captured on CCTV on the train, has been asked to contact the investigating officers
Queenstown Road station is unstaffed, and Ms Gordon hopes the passenger handed in the instrument somewhere else, or plans to do so.
She declined to state the exact value of her missing violin, beyond saying that it is worth 'tens of thousands of pounds'.
Maggini violins regularly fetch more than £30,000 at auction and one went for more than £133,000 when it was sold in 2011. The Italian master violin maker only made around 60 of them during his lifetime.
Ms Gordon, a professional violinist, is due to play in two Proms at the Royal Albert Hall as part of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment on September 4 and 9.
She plays in several orchestras and as part of a chamber ensemble called Rautio Piano Trio.
She has performed at major concerts at Sydney Opera House, the Lincoln Center in New York and across Europe and has won a number of international prizes.
Now she faces having to play a borrowed instrument at the world-renowned Proms if her own is not found in time.
The violin was in a black case with a label 'GEWA' on the outside. There is a pouch outside the case which contains a blank envelope with strings inside, these are labelled La Folia.
The instrument also has a distinctive wooden chin rest. There are four bows and there is a small pouch at the end of the case, which contains asthma medication.
The violin was in a case with the word GEWA printed on the outside and there were four bows and some asthma medicine inside the case.
Ms Gordon said: 'I am willing to offer a reward for the instrument if it is found. Please return it safely.'
Detective Constable Anthony Steaman of the British Transport Police said: 'I am keen to speak to the two people in the CCTV images as I believe they may have vital information that could help with the investigation.'
Anyone with any information should contact British Transport Police on 0800 40 50 40 or hand the instrument in to their local police station.
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