Known as ‘the French Stradivari’, Nicolas Lupot is recognised as the greatest French violin maker. Stradivari’s influence was evident from the beginning of Lupot’s career, and became more pronounced after his move to Paris in 1794. This violin shows Lupot’s familiarity with Stradivari’s Golden Period, and was made more than a decade after he settled in his own workshop in the rue de Gramont.

The handsomely figured wood is covered in rich red varnish, and the sound is complex and colourful, with a powerful resonance and immediate response. For many years this instrument was played in the Guarneri Quartet.