The back is in two pieces of wood, marked by an irregular horizontal curl, and that of the sides is similar. The head is also marked by an irregular curl, but which is smaller. The table is marked by medium grain, opening towards the flanks, particularly on the bass side. The varnish of a transparent orange-gold color still covers most of the instrument. Known as one of the violins made in the last years of Stradivari who died in 1737, the sound-holes are not square across the table, which is fairly typical of many of the later examples. The label attached to this instrument bears an Italian inscription, “d’anni 92 (92 years old)”, handwritten by Stradivari himself. It has a first class reputation for its excellent condition and tonal quality.

This violin takes its name from an excellent amateur and collector, H.M.Muntz of Birmingham, England. One of the violins kept by Stradivari’s youngest son Paolo and sold to Count Cozio di Salabue in 1775, this instrument was in 1831 taken to Paris by Tarisio. Comte d’Amiens then owned it for thirty years, and in 1862 it was acquired by the Belgian collector Wilmotte. In 1874 Mr.H.M.Muntz of Birmingham, England, bought the violin from Gand et Bernardel of Paris, and from him it passed to Hills and Mr. Higgins. Recently, the violin has been owned by Dr. Talbot of Aachen, who exhibited it at Cremona in 1937, and via Jacques Francais of the United States, Dr. E.P. Engleman who was an American amateur violinist and collector Dr. Ephraim Engleman (1911-2015), Steven Staryk (1932-), a well-known virtuoso who was Concertmaster of the Chicago Symphony at one time, and the violinist and collector Mr. Howard Gottlieb. In July 1997, Nippon Music Foundation acquired this violin from Mr. Gottlieb through a luthier.