1715 Stradivarius sold for $23 million becomes most expensive violin in history

17 March 2025, 15:09

It’s the most expensive violin ever sold.

A record-breaking Stradivarius has sold for $23 million (£17.8 million), the highest sum ever paid for a violin. The 1715 ‘Baron Knoop’, hailed for its quality, volume and articulation, was crafted during Stradivari’s ‘golden period’.

Previous owner, US collector David L. Fulton, had bought the violin in February 1993 for $2.75 million. It was sold this time to an anonymous buyer.

“The fiddle deserves this accolade,’ Fulton told classical music publication The Strad. “It’s one of the very greatest Strads, and my favourite violin of all.”

The Baron Knoop has a maple back, with two pieces of spruce forming the top. The ribs and scroll are made of similar wood, and the scroll retains Stradivari’s original black edging.

Earlier this year, a 1714 Stradivarius predicted to become most expensive violin sold at auction missed the world record, selling for $11.25 million (£9.1 million). Stradivarius violins are some of the most expensive in the world, considered the very best of instrument craftsmanship and played by the world’s great virtuosos.

Read more: 1714 Stradivarius violin could become most expensive instrument ever sold

When it last exchanged hands, the violin required an extensive period of cleaning after having been covered in an orange-red varnish. It took three months to clean off the botched varnish job to reveal a rich original varnish beneath.

At one point in time, Fulton’s musical instrument collection numbered 27 pieces, most of which are now sold. Other instruments, including a 1793 Guadagnini viola and an 1898 Voller Brothers copy of the 1735 ‘d’Egville’ Guarneri ‘del Gesù’, are now part of the David and Amy Fulton Foundation.

The ‘Baron Knoop’ violin now holds the record for the most expensive violin ever sold. The previous record-holder was the 1741 ‘Vieuxtemps’ Guarneri ‘del Gesù’, sold in 2013. The ‘Vieuxtemps’ is on lifetime loan to US violinist Anne Akiko Meyers.

Read more: What’s so good about Stradivarius violins?

The private sale was facilitated by Joseph Bein of Bein & Co.

Previously, the world record for a violin sale was held by the ‘Lady Blunt’ Stradivarius which sold for $15.9 million (£12.3 million) in 2011.