Theft From Mission San Antonio
By Robert Hoover

1798 Carabajal violin stolen from Mission San Antonio, Summer 2003

1798 Carabajal Violin Stolen from Mission San Antonio
Summer 2003

The celebrated Carabajal violin has been stolen over the last summer from its home in the Mission San Antonio de Padua Museum. This beautiful treasure of our California mission history is no longer available for study, performance, or enjoyment. The violin was made of Bay Laurel and other native California woods by Jose Carabajal in 1798. As a boy in his teens, Jose wished for a violin like the one the mission padre had so that he could play in the Mission San Antonio orchestra. Over a period of time, with simple tools and the labor of his hands, he was able to copy the padre's instrument, piece by piece, and create a wonderful finished product. The result looks and plays like a standard violin, but some of the details of construction are unique. This youth, from a culture previously unacquainted with any Western stringed instruments, figured out how to make a violin that plays beautifully.

Carabajal's great, great grandson, Leonard Lane, donated the violin to the Mission San Antonio Museum collection in 1973, where it has been on display ever since. John Warren's New World Baroque Orchestra sought permission in 2000 to restore the instrument and play it at special mission events, including performances of the rediscovered "Mass in G" of Fr. Juan Bautista Sancho, the world class composer and musician stationed at Mission San Antonio between 1804 and 1830. This effort was endorsed by the current pastor, Fr. John Gini, who realized the historic value of the violin and music in bringing together diverse groups of people in harmony. The violin was again playing some of the first music that it had played for Jose Carabajal.Sometime between May and September, most likely in August, the violin was removed from its display case by persons unknown and was replaced by a smaller scale child's violin of modem manufacture. The case was not damaged. Since the violin is well documented, it is unlikely to be sold successfully on the open market. Please circulate this information as widely as possible. If you hear or learn about any leads concerning the violin, please contact Detective Jim Miller of the Monterey County Sheriff's Department at (831) 385‑8313.