[1] It was Parisian dealer, luthier and maker Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume who gave the instrument its name.
[citation needed] In the mid-19th century, Vuillaume disassembled the instrument for maintenance and observed, to his amazement, that the violin had remained untouched since it left Stradivari's workshop.
Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume created the instrument's tailpiece carved with the image of a woman in armor, Joan of Arc, the virgin warrior known as "La Pucelle d'Orléans".
According to the celebrated violin expert Charles Beare, La Pucelle is the first example of the instruments forming Stradivari's "Golden Period", the pilot model.
Clark sold the violin to Fulton in 2001 under a contract that would conceal the identity of the seller for 10 years.