This 300-Year-Old Stradivarius Violin Could Become the Most Expensive Musical Instrument Ever Sold at Auction

A valuable violin with a storied past will be sold at Sotheby’s in February—and it could become the most expensive musical instrument ever auctioned.

Known as the Joachim-Ma Stradivarius, the instrument was crafted in 1714 by Antonio Stradivari, the famous Italian violin maker, during his “golden period” of craftsmanship. The instrument is still in working condition, and it could sell for between $12 and $18 million, Sotheby’s announced this week.

The current record-holder for the most expensive musical instrument sold at auction is another Stradivari violin: the 1721 Lady Blunt Stradivarius, named for the granddaughter of the British Romantic poet Lord Byron, which went for $15.9 million in 2011, according to Bloomberg’s Ed Stapley.

That might change when the Joachim-Ma goes up for auction during Sotheby’s Masters Week, a series of auctions featuring paintings, sculptures and other valuable artworks.

The violin was once owned by the renowned Hungarian musician Joseph Joachim, who most likely performed with it during the 1879 premiere of Johannes Brahms’ Violin Concerto in D Major, which Brahms conducted himself, according to the auction house.

“The first time we actually saw the instrument, we were really, truly blown away just by its presence,” Mari-Claudia Jiménez, Sotheby’s chairman and head of business development, tells ARTnews’ Karen K. Ho.

The violin’s other namesake is Si-Hon Ma, a celebrated Chinese violinist and teacher who invented the Sihon mute, a device placed behind a violin’s bridge to dampen sound. It doesn’t need to be removed when not in use, making it “a great improvement over the older standard mute,” according to his New York Times obituary. Ma bought the Stradivarius violin with his profits from the Sihon mute and played it until his death in 2009, per Bloomberg.

After a stint at the Violin Museum in Cremona, Italy, the instrument was donated to the New England Conservatory, Ma’s alma mater. The violin came with the provision that it would eventually be sold to support student scholarships.

Over the past nine years, only a handful of senior students at the conservatory have been able to play the valuable violin, as Andrea Kalyn, president of the New England Conservatory, tells Bloomberg. “It has been an extraordinary experience for them,” she adds.

In a statement, Sotheby’s describes the Joachim-Ma Stradivarius as having an “exceptional sound—rich, complex and full of depth.”

“The tone is both sweet and rounded, with a richness that seems to grow with each note,” says the auction house. “There’s a warmth to the sound, with an underlying depth that gives it a unique character, making it far from ordinary.”

Although future generations of New England Conservatory students won’t necessarily be able to play the 300-year-old violin, they will still benefit from its sale. The proceeds will help establish some of the largest named scholarships in the conservatory’s history.

Who will provide that future scholarship money? Jiménez tells Bloomberg that the one-of-a-kind artifact may attract buyers from a variety of backgrounds.

“This isn’t just something that a violin or instrument aficionado would want,” she says, though she adds that it would be ideal if the buyer wanted to play it. “This is for anyone who wants to own something that is the best of the best, the most extraordinary, or the most special of their kind.”

In 2022, a different 1714 Stradivarius sold at auction for $15.34 million at Tarisio, an auction house that specializes in fine instruments.

Instrument enthusiasts and other members of the public will have an opportunity to see the Joachim-Ma Stradivarius for themselves. Ahead of its sale at Sotheby’s New York in February, the violin will go on display in London and Hong Kong, with additional exhibitions to be announced.

Ella Feldman | READ MORE

Ella Malena Feldman is a writer and editor based in Washington, D.C. She examines art, culture and gender in her work, which has appeared in Washington City Paper, DCist and the Austin American-Statesman.