The Lady Blunt is a

Stradivarius violin A Stradivarius is one of the string instruments, such as violins, violas, cellos, and guitars, crafted by members of the Stradivari family, particularly Antonio Stradivari (Latin: Antonius Stradivarius), in Cremona, Italy, during the late 17th ...

made in 1721 by the renowned Italian

luthier A luthier ( ; ) is a craftsperson who builds or repairs string instruments. Etymology The word ' is originally French and comes from ''luth'', the French word for "lute". The term was originally used for makers of lutes, but it came to be ...

Antonio Stradivari Antonio Stradivari (, also , ; – 18 December 1737) was an Italian luthier and a craftsman of string instruments such as violins, cellos, guitars, violas and harps. The Latinisation of names, Latinized form of his surname, ''Stradivarius'', a ...

. It is named after one of its first known owners,

Lady Anne Blunt Anne Isabella Noel Blunt, 15th Baroness Wentworth (née King, later King-Noel; 22 September 1837 – 15 December 1917), known for most of her life as Lady Anne Blunt, along with her husband the poet Wilfrid Blunt, was co-founder of the Crabbe ...

, the British co-founder of the

Crabbet Arabian Stud The Crabbet Arabian Stud, also known as the Crabbet Park Stud, was an English horse breeding farm that ran from 1878 to 1972. Its founder owners, husband and wife team Wilfrid Scawen Blunt and Lady Anne Blunt, decided while travelling in the Mi ...

Ownership

The first owner of record was

Jean Baptiste Vuillaume Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume (; 7 October 1798 – 19 March 1875) was a French luthier, businessman, inventor and winner of many awards. He was one of the finest French luthiers of the 19th century and a key figure in the world of violin making. ...

, an award-winning luthier, who found the violin in Spain in the 1860s. He sold the instrument to Lady Anne Blunt, the daughter of

Ada Lovelace Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace (''née'' Byron; 10 December 1815 – 27 November 1852), also known as Ada Lovelace, was an English mathematician and writer chiefly known for her work on Charles Babbage's proposed mechanical general-pur ...

and granddaughter of

Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824) was an English poet. He is one of the major figures of the Romantic movement, and is regarded as being among the greatest poets of the United Kingdom. Among his best-kno ...

. In the 1890s, W.E. Hill & Sons bought the violin from her and sold it to an important collector. It was sold at a

Sotheby's Sotheby's ( ) is a British-founded multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine art, fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...

auction in 1971 for the then-record amount of £84,000 (US$200,000) by Robert Lowe, who owned the violin for nearly 30 years. It was sold again at Sotheby's in London on 14 November 1985 for a record price of £820,000 to a private collector. In 2008 it was sold to the

Nippon Music Foundation The (NMF) is an organisation under the supervision of the Arts and Culture Promotion Division, Agency for Cultural Affairs, a special body of the Japanese Ministry of Education. Established 3 March 1972, its stated purpose is to develop internat ...

for over US$10 million in a private transaction. In the wake of the

2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami On 11 March 2011, at 14:46:24 Japan Standard Time, JST (05:46:24 UTC), a 9.0–9.1 Submarine earthquake, undersea megathrust earthquake occurred in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region. It lasted approx ...

, the Lady Blunt was put up for charitable sale, with proceeds going to the

Nippon Foundation of Tokyo, Japan, is a private, non-profit grant-making organization. It was established in 1962 by Ryōichi Sasakawa. The foundation's mission is to direct Japanese motorboat racing revenue into philanthropic activities, it uses this money t ...

's relief fund.

Tarisio Auctions Tarisio is the world's largest seller of fine stringed instruments and bows. Founded in 1999 as an auction house that specializes in string instruments and bows, Tarisio now has locations in New York, London and Berlin and serves a global clientel ...

handled the sale online, raising almost £10 million (US$15.9 million), more than four times the previous auction record for a Stradivarius, set by the sale of the Molitor for US$3.6 million in 2010. The anonymous buyer won a 90-minute bidding battle with one other bidder.

Instrument

The Lady Blunt is one of the two best-preserved Stradivarius violins in existence. It has survived, like the

Messiah Stradivarius The ''Messiah - Salabue Stradivarius'' of 1716 is a violin made by the Italian luthier Antonio Stradivari of Cremona. It is considered to be the only Stradivarius in existence in ''as "new"'' state. The neck has been lengthened and at minimum th ...

of 1716, in near-original condition, since it has resided mostly in the hands of collectors and seen little use. It was built on the PG form, being a mature golden period violin. The violin also retains its original neck. It has been played very rarely;

Yehudi Menuhin Yehudi Menuhin, Baron Menuhin (22 April 191612 March 1999), was an American-born British violinist and conductor who spent most of his performing career in Britain. He is widely considered one of the greatest violinists of the 20th century. ...

played it in 1971, when the instrument was up for sale. In 2011 it was described as "the best-preserved Stradivarius to be offered for sale in the past century."

References

1721 works Stradivari violins {{violin-stub

Ownership

Instrument

See also

References