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New York (dpa) - A 299-year-old Stradivari violin was auctioned for 3.54 million dollars, the highest amount ever paid for a musical instrument.
Christie's auction house said after the sale Tuesday in New York that the violin, called the Hammer and made by the renowned Italian craftsman Giacomo Antonio Stradivari, was sold by telephone to a bidder who wished to remain anonymous.
The violin made in 1707 in Cremona, Italy, earned its name from its first documented owner, the 19th-century Swedish jeweler and collector Christian Hammer.
Stradivari, who lived from 1644 to 1737, is the world's most renowned violin maker. He made more than 1,000 stringed instruments during his life, including violas, cellos, several guitars and a harp.
About 600 of his instruments survive today, and the previous one to come up for sale in April last year also set a record at that time, 2.03 million dollars.
Copyright 2006 dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH
