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Rare Stradivarius violin on auction
04/09/2002 16:33 - (SA)
Jeremy Lovell
London - A rare instrument by the world's most famous violin-maker, Antonio Stradivari, will be the star lot at an auction later this year.
The violin, one of only 500 remaining in the world, is expected to fetch up to $1.33 million at the sale in London on November 13, musical instrument specialist Jennifer Laredo of auction house Christie's said on Wednesday.
"It is a fine example of his work and is in very good condition," she said at a sale preview as top violinist Priya Mitchell persuaded the instrument to sing.
Stradivari, who made cellos and violas as well as violins, was born in 1644.
He set up his workshop in the northern Italian town of Cremona near Milan during the 1660s and worked there until his death in 1737.
His groundbreaking new design for the violin has been the model for all future makes ever since.
Stradivari's creations were coveted by royalty and nobility across Europe, and he produced instruments for James II of England and the renowned Medici family.
Dating from 1726, the violin on sale is just one year older than the Kreutzer Stradivarius which at £947 500 still holds the world record as the most expensive musical instrument ever sold at auction.
But unlike some of its sister instruments, this violin does not have a particularly colourful history attached because it was never owned by a professional violinist or, as far as Laredo knows, ever played in a public concert.
But accordingly it is in pristine condition, having been owned instead by a series of professional collectors through the ages including Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume - one of the greatest French violin makers and dealers of the 19th century.
The current owner, a private southern hemisphere collector who has elected to remain anonymous, has had the violin with its distinguished label "Antonius Stradivarius Cremonensis, Faciebat Anno 1726" for the past two decades.
"Instruments from this particular period are quite rare," Laredo said, adding that she expected keen bidding at the auction.
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South Africa
