The name of this violin is derived from the Duke of Camposelice of France, who was an excellent amateur and formed a fine instrument collection. This violin belonged to an amateur player named Tauzia living in provincial France from whom the Duke of Camposelice purchased it in around 1884 via Gand et Bernardel of Paris. In 1889, W. E. Hill & Sons purchased this violin from the Duchess, and in the following year sold it to an amateur, Captain John Audley Harvey residing in Bedfordshire, England. In 1894, the violin was sold to Mrs. J. L. Gardner, who founded the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, and from her, it passed into the hands of the composer and violinist Charles Martin Loeffler (1861-1935) who played and kept the violin until 1927. In 1929, the violin passed into the hands of Mr. Ralph H. Norton of Chicago through Rudolph Wurlitzer Co. of New York. In 1930, via prominent dealer Emil Herrmann in New York, it went to Dr. Kühne who owned a collection of Stradivarius quartet. In 1937, this violin was exhibited at the prestigious Cremona Exhibition of Instruments as part of Dr. Kühne’s collection. After Dr. Kühne, it was in the possession of a Czech violinist Váša Příhoda (1900-1960) by 1949, and then of Mr. Bernard Goldblatt in 1968. It was then sold to Mr. Joseph Deliège in 1977 by J & A Beare Ltd. Later in the 20th century, it passed into the hands of a Belgian amateur player who kept it for over thirty years until his death. It is from his heir that Nippon Music Foundation acquired this instrument in September 2004.
