A violin by
Antonio Stradivari

The renowned dealers in London, W.E. Hill & Sons, kept thorough descriptions of Stradivari instruments and their owners. Yet when describing the provenance of this astonishing violin dated 1719, we are left with very few constructive details.

The first three names mentioned by Hill are completely unknown today. Could the Dr. Duncan who owned the Stradivari before 1904, and who also owned two outstanding Venetian cellos, possibly be the Scottish maker and dealer George Duncan? There is no information of Sig. Ricchiardi in 1906 or Paulo Fabbriano of Livorno in 1931.

The name Haupt was given to this violin because it first emerged publicly at the exhibition for the Bicentennial of Stradivari’s death in 1937. At that time the owner was Enrico Haupt of Santa Margherita Ligure, Genoa. In 1963 for the exhibition in Isola Bella, Stresa the owner was Enrico’s son, Giorgio Haupt.

W. E. Hill & Sons noted a M. Manuel of Paris and Mme. Darnault of Cherbourg as owners in 1964. It wasn’t till 1985 when the “Haupt” Stradivari was purchased by Leon Spierer (b.1928) that the violin’s qualities were seen and heard. Spierer served as concertmaster of the Berlin Philharmonic between 1963 and 1993. The violin was sold in 2019 by Rare Violins of New York for the use of Gil Shaham, who immediately recorded the Brahms and Beethoven Violin Concertos with the Knights using this instrument.