The ''Ames Stradivarius'' of 1734 is an

antique An antique () is an item perceived as having value because of its aesthetic or historical significance, and often defined as at least 100 years old (or some other limit), although the term is often used loosely to describe any object that i ...

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

, made by the 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 ...

Cremona Cremona ( , , ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po (river), Po river in the middle of the Po Valley. It is the capital of the province of Cremona and the seat of the local city a ...

. It is one of only 450–700 known extant Stradivarius instruments in the world. The ''Ames'' is named for violinist George Ames who owned it and performed with it in the late nineteenth century. The ''Ames Stradivarius'' was sold to Polish-born American violinist

Roman Totenberg Roman Totenberg (January 1, 1911 – May 8, 2012) was a Polish-American violinist and educator. A child prodigy, he lived in Poland, Moscow, Berlin, and Paris, before formally immigrating to the U.S. in 1938, at age 27. He performed and taught ...

in 1943, for $15,000 (), and it was his only performance instrument for almost the next four decades. It was stolen from Totenberg by his former student

Philip Johnson Philip Cortelyou Johnson (July 8, 1906 – January 25, 2005) was an American architect who designed modern and postmodern architecture. Among his best-known designs are his modernist Glass House in New Canaan, Connecticut; the postmodern 550 ...

in May 1980, from his office at the

Longy School of Music of Bard College Longy School of Music of Bard College is a private music school in Cambridge, Massachusetts associated with Bard College. Founded in 1915 as the Longy School of Music, it was one of the four independent degree-granting music schools in the Boston ...

, where he was then the director. Totenberg died in 2012. The violin was finally recovered in 2015, and returned to his daughters. Johnson frequently played the violin, including in public, but it was never recognized. After Johnson's death, his ex-wife discovered the Stradivarius in his belongings and attempted to sell it in 2015, not knowing the violin's origin and value. She e-mailed pictures of the violin to master violinmaker Phillip Injeian who identified it and contacted the FBI. The violin was returned to Totenberg's daughters

Nina Totenberg Nina Totenberg (born January 14, 1944) is an American legal affairs correspondent for National Public Radio (NPR) focusing primarily on the Supreme Court of the United States. Her reports air regularly on NPR's news magazines ''All Things Consid ...

Amy Totenberg Amy Mil Totenberg (born December 29, 1950) is a Senior status, Senior United States federal judge, United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. She previously worked in private practice ...

and Jill Totenberg in August 2015. The heirs planned to sell the instrument after it had been restored to playing condition. According to Nina Totenberg, "We will make sure it is in the hands of another virtuoso violinist. And once again, the beautiful, brilliant and throaty voice of that long-stilled violin will thrill audiences in concert halls around the world." They have since sold it to an unknown owner, who has lent it to Nathan Meltzer.

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* 1734 works Stradivari violins {{violin-stub

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