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A violin made by renowned luthier Antonio Stradivari is set to fetch a record-breaking sum at auction this week.
The “Joachim-Ma Stradivarius” will hit the block at Sotheby’s in New York on February 7, with experts anticipating that it will be sold for anywhere from $12 to $18 million. The instrument was made in 1714, known as Stradivarius’ so-called “Golden Period”, and was previously held at the New England Conservatory, which had received the instrument as a gift in 2016.
The violin gets its name from its previous owner, Joseph Joachim, one of the most celebrated violinists of the 19th century. It’s believed that this violin was used to debut the Violin Concerto of Joachim’s frequent collaborator, Johannes Brahms. The next owner of the violin was Si-Hon Ma, a distinguished soloist and educator who acquired it in 1969 and owned it until his death in 2009.
Should the violin sell for its astronomical estimate, it would break the record for most expensive instrument ever sold at auction. That record currently belongs to another Stradivarius violin, the “Lady Blunt”, which sold for $15.9 million back in 2011.
UPDATE: The "Joachim-Ma" Stradivarius sold on February 7 for $11.25 million, falling short of the record. Reports say that the funds from the sale will fund scholarships at the New England Conservatory.