The Molitor Stradivarius is an antique violin made by Italian luthier Antonio Stradivari of Cremona in 1697, the very beginning of the maker's celebrated "Golden" period.
[1] It bears the label "Antonius Stradivarius Cremonensis / Faciebat Anno 1697" and is branded to the lower rib, "Curtis Phila.
The violin then joined the ranks of other superlative instruments in the collection of the Curtis Institute of Music, where it remained before being sold by the London firm of William Hill in 1936.
In 1957 the violin was purchased by William Anderson of Derry, Northern Ireland, where it remained under his bed in Aberfoyle Terrace until 1988.
The current owner of the Molitor is American violinist Anne Akiko Meyers, who purchased the violin from Tarisio Auctions.