The Rawlins Stradivarius

The Rawlins Stradivarius is an antique guitar crafted by Antonio Stradivari in 1700.

[1] The Rawlins was purchased by the National Music Museum in South Dakota from violinist Louis Krasner in 1985.

[2] The curator of stringed instruments at the National Music Museum notes that most Italian Baroque guitars from that period were more ornate than the Stradivari guitars: "Stradivari was probably the first maker to highlight the natural beauty of the wood on a guitar.

He used a spruce top and beautiful violin-style figured maple for the back and sides instead of ebony or the other tropical hardwoods that were commonly used at the time."

It has a rosette design with decorative mother of pearl inlay.

The Rawlins Stradivarius guitar (1700), part of the Stradivarius collection at the National Music Museum , Vermillion