Violin Sold at Record Price for Charity

One of the best preserved Stradivarius violins was sold at an online auction for $15.9 million on Monday.

The 1721 violin was bought by an anonymous bidder for around four times the previous auction record for a Stradivari violin.

[Jason Price, Director, Tarisio]:

„Before yesterday the previous world record for an auction was last October, when we sold the Molitor Stradivarius for $3.6 million – that was the benchmark for public sales previously. There are recorded private sales higher than that, but that was the record to beat.“

The violin was put up for auction by the Nippon Foundation in order to raise money to aid victims of the recent Japanese earthquake and tsunami.

[Jason Price, Director, Tarisio]:

„The Nippon Foundation had this idea that they wanted to do something to give back, but also to show people to make a gesture that people would see and understand and perhaps inspire other people to do so. I think that inspired a lot of the bidding, I think it inspired people to come out and appreciate the sale. It was really a wonderful – confluence of – great thoughts behind it.“

The instrument is named after one of its previous owners, Lady Anne Blunt, the granddaughter of English poet Lord Byron.

„The Lady Blunt“ is one of around 600 violins, violas and cellos by the famed Italian maker Antonio Stradivari still in existence, and among the finest examples.

[Jason Price, Director, Tarisio]:

„What makes this violin so important is that it has for most of its three hundred years been so carefully preserved that it has really escaped all of the bad things that can happen to violins: woodworm, cracks, accidental damage. It has been very gently played at a couple – in some moments of its existence. But for the most part it’s been preserved. And what’s great about that is that this allows us to see what a Stradivari looked like in 1725, ten years after it was made. And hopefully it’ll allow us to see five hundred years from now what a Stradivari looked like back then.“

Foto: NTD