The Most Expensive Musical Instrument is a Stradivarius Violin

April 11, 2006 | Posted by bLavish as The Most Expensive at 11:33 am | (17) Comments »

The Lady Tennant.jpgThe most expensive musical note you can play is on “The Lady Tennant” Stradivari violin.  Made in 1699, the violin was first owned by violin virtuoso & composer Charles Philippe Lafont.  The piece owes its name to Scottish industrialist Sir Charles Tennant who bought the instrument for his wife Marguerite Miles in 1900.

Antonio Stradivari set his famous hands to this violin and crafted a masterpiece at his shop in Cremona, Italy.  Dukes and queens alike coveted his work during his time, unlike many masters, and his instruments sell for wild sums of money to collectors.

Of the 1,100 recorded violins Stradivari made during his lifetime, only 650 are said to have survived.  Although many other noted violin makers existed during Strad’s time, such as Guarneri & Amati, the remaining Stradivaris are more famous, more numerous & more expensive.

“The Lady Tennant” was sold by Christie’s New York in an auction in April 2005.  The violin caught more bids that expected and sold for over $2.03 million, the highest amount ever paid for a musical instrument at public auction to date. 

17 Comments

  1. Ivana Trump Said,

    September 29, 2007 @ 7:03 pm

    Stradivarius sound perfect in my mbl music system

  2. Anonymous Said,

    November 12, 2007 @ 9:48 pm

    The most expensive instrument was actually a guitar that went for $3.7million dollars

  3. Mark Said,

    January 2, 2008 @ 1:45 pm

    I am with you all the way with the “The Lady Tennant” Stradivari violin being the most expensive instrument in the world.I don’t know where the anonymous person gets their information from but where ever it is wrong.

    Regards

    Mark

  4. Khaing Said,

    June 30, 2008 @ 7:17 am

    I have a violin labeled with following:
    Copy of Antonius Stradiuarius Cremonenfits faciebat Anno made in Germany Specially for T.M.A lmd. 1719, first two digits are in printed letter and the last two are handwritten format. So, I want to about this violin and it’s price, please send explain message about that. I am from Myanmar Country. Thank you.

  5. Ruby Said,

    July 26, 2008 @ 3:46 am

    the most expensive violin ( most expensive musical instrument as well) up to date is a 1741 violin made by Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesu.Russian lawyer and businessman Maxim Viktorov paid a reported $3.9 million U.S. in a private sale brokered by Sotheby’s
    The previous most expensive instrument had been a 1708 Stradivari violin sold by Christie’s for $3.54 million in 2006

  6. tommy Said,

    November 19, 2008 @ 8:22 pm

    i thought it would be a pipe organ

  7. gunther peterson Said,

    May 23, 2009 @ 4:51 pm

    my my such tit tat tillying. i’ve just equiped myself with a trumpet dont you know. Can any of you good people give me a heads up on a good place to start. i can make a sound now after a couple of days practice an need the directions to the next stage. the grand stage, ho ho ho. maybe not just yet. Any information would be greatly appriciated.Oh and my trumpet cost just short of $4.5 million. dont you know.
    ciao

  8. Moris Popov Said,

    January 21, 2010 @ 3:05 pm

    I have Anthonio Stradivarius violine CREMONENSIS FACIEBAT ANNO 1719 0R 49 I couldn’t read because the forlast number look like 4 but could be 1. And I am interesting for price.
    Please answer me about violine is in nice condition. Thank You ab front for Your kindnes.

    Moris Popov

  9. Curt Evans Said,

    March 20, 2010 @ 6:25 pm

    I have Anthonio Stradivarius violine CREMONENSIS FACIEBAT ANNO 1730. What is it worth. It was brought to this country before world war 1

  10. Sunny D Said,

    March 22, 2010 @ 10:29 am

    The highest price that a Stradivarius was sold for was $3,544,000, but this was merely the highest price bought at a public auction. The bidder’s was reported to be anonymous. This violin was called the Hammer, and was produced during the golden period, in the year 1707.

  11. pauline carter Said,

    March 28, 2010 @ 3:05 pm

    I have aAntonnios Straivarius year 1737 I need \to ask queations please contact me @ 209-267-0907

  12. Keith Said,

    April 9, 2010 @ 3:14 am

    I don’t believe that I have one of the 650 survivers of “The Lady Tennant” . The back of the neck between the keys look the same. The last time that it was rehaired was in seattle by B.J. Roy oct 27 1910. It has Artist stradivarius violin stamped on the back of the wood between the keys.If someone out their could give me more info on the violin I have would be great……..Thanks in advance.

    Hope to recieve some emails.

    Keith

  13. don Said,

    May 9, 2010 @ 2:13 pm

    hi all,i have Stradivarius Violin,but a very good copy made in dresden germany,does anyone have any i dear the value of it,as im selling it

  14. MISSY Said,

    June 9, 2010 @ 5:34 pm

    I believed David Garret bought that violin (Strad 2.03M) :D

  15. Anonim Said,

    August 5, 2010 @ 1:26 am

    Hi to all,
    how we can learn which violine is not copy of Stradivarius ?
    Antonius Stradiuarius Cremonenu
    Faciabat Anno 1716

    Is that enough to be sure ?
    Help me if you can.
    Thank you

  16. Sean Goldsmith Said,

    September 10, 2010 @ 7:15 am

    I did a lot of research on this subject as I let go of an authentic Germunder a few years ago. I only got a couple of grand for it but I had it appraised for well over 20,000. Since then I have found a lot of information on what makes a V valuable on the internet and other sources, so far the most expensive I have seen was a Maggini that was sold to a Russian collector for which he paid 10 million or better….although this could have been a Guraneri with a Maggini label in it as a lot of tickets dissapeared from the Maggini workshop around when Guarneri made his debut.

  17. Jrearden Said,

    October 1, 2011 @ 12:14 am

    I don’t know if Stradivari are the most expensive. A Guarneri sold for more and is currently for sale at 18,000,000.

RSS feed for comments on this post