‘Kubelík’ Stradivarius of 1687
This 1687 Stradivari violin was given to the Czech soloist Jan Kubelík by a wealthy English patroness, who had inherited her fortune from the family biscuit-making business. It was used by Kubelík until he acquired the Emperor Stradivari violin of 1715. Sold by the University of California Berkeley in the May 2003 auction to benefit their music department, it fetched $949,500, which at the time was a world record for a pre-1700 period Stradivari violin.
