A violin by Carlo Antonio Testore

This violin formed part of the collection of Stephen Kolbinson, a farmer from Kindersley, Saskatchewan, Canada. In the 1950s, Kolbinson travelled the world in search of fine stringed instruments and at one point actually sold a significant portion of his farmland to buy a Stradivari. Years later, after a downturn in his fortunes, he was forced to sell his instruments and his collection was bought by the comedian and accomplished violinist, Jack Benny.

Kolbinson was eventually able to assemble a quartet of Amatis, buying the viola from France, sight unseen, over the telephone. In 1959 he sold the quartet to the University of Saskatchewan for a relatively modest sum, on the condition that the university establish a string quartet. Before his death in 1986 at the age of ninety-eight, Kolbinson had eventually learned to play the viola, and achieved his dream of playing with the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra.