$10m Stradivarius violin found in New York heiress Huguette Clark's wardrobe
Rare 1731 Stradivarius violin found at Manhattan home of Huguette Clark, late heiress to $500m copper fortune, expected to fetch $10m at auction
10:15AM BST 09 Jun 2014
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The home of eccentric copper heiress Huguette Clark has already turned out a trove of valuable items – a collection of jewellery including a rare pink 9-carat diamond fetched a total of $21 million at a Manhattan auction last year.
But three years after her death, aged 104, Huguette Clark's sprawling 42-room apartment on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue has just revealed its rarest treasure yet.
A 1731 Stradivarius violin known as "The Kreutzer" after its former owner, has been discovered in a closet, and is now expected to auction for between $7.5 million and $10m, the New York Post reported.
Christie's has begun accepting sealed bids ahead of a final deadline this Thursday.
“It would be the one violin that Kreutzer held most special to him and would retain it throughout his life,” said a spokesman for Christie's.
“Celebrated as a violin virtuoso, composer, and teacher, Kreutzer left behind a great body of work including 19 violin concertos and 40 operas.”
Huguette Clark
The Stradivarius – the name given to a violin made by one of the members of the Stradivari family during the 17th and 18th centuries – has been synonymous with musical excellence for three centuries with instruments selling for millions amid claims that their sound quality is unparalleled.
The violin is now expected to auction for between $7.5 million and $10m (GETTY IMAGES)
Huguette Marcelle Clark was born in Paris on June 9 1906, the daughter of William A Clark, one of America's richest men. Of Scottish, Irish and Huguenot descent, he built railways, mined copper in Montana, and became a US senator.
Huguette Clark studied at Miss Spence's School for Girls in New York, and became proficient in music and art, exhibiting seven of her paintings at a gallery in Washington, DC in 1929.
Obituary: Huguette Clark
Huguette Clark
The Stradivarius – the name given to a violin made by one of the members of the Stradivari family during the 17th and 18th centuries – has been synonymous with musical excellence for three centuries with instruments selling for millions amid claims that their sound quality is unparalleled.
The violin is now expected to auction for between $7.5 million and $10m (GETTY IMAGES)
Huguette Marcelle Clark was born in Paris on June 9 1906, the daughter of William A Clark, one of America's richest men. Of Scottish, Irish and Huguenot descent, he built railways, mined copper in Montana, and became a US senator.
Huguette Clark studied at Miss Spence's School for Girls in New York, and became proficient in music and art, exhibiting seven of her paintings at a gallery in Washington, DC in 1929.
Obituary: Huguette Clark
