The Lord Wilton Guarnerius, sometimes called the ex-

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. ...

, is an antique and valuable violin fabricated by 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 ...

Bartolomeo Giuseppe "del Gesù" Guarneri (1698–1744), usually called

Guarneri del Gesù Bartolomeo Giuseppe "del Gesù" Guarneri (, , ; 21 August 1698 – 17 October 1744) was an Italian luthier from the Guarneri family of Cremona. He rivals Antonio Stradivari (1644–1737) with regard to the respect and reverence accorded his inst ...

. The violin was made in 1742 in the city of

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 was named after Seymour Egerton, 4th Earl of Wilton, a musician, associate of

Arthur Sullivan Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan (13 May 1842 – 22 November 1900) was an English composer. He is best known for 14 comic opera, operatic Gilbert and Sullivan, collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including ''H.M.S. Pinaf ...

, and 19th century owner of the instrument. It was owned and played by the celebrated violinist

from 1978 to 1999. After Menuhin's death in 1999, the instrument was sold for US$6 million to the collector, David L. Fulton, the highest price paid for a violin to that date. , the instrument remains in Fulton's possession.

Zlatko Balokovic Zlatko ( sr-Cyrl, Златко, ) is a South Slavic masculine given name. The name is derived from the word ''zlato'' meaning gold with hypocoristic suffix ''-ko'' common in South Slavic languages. Zlatko is a given name. Notable people with the na ...

also played the instrument from 1952 to 1961.

References

Giuseppe Guarneri violins 1742 works {{violin-stub