It is said that there are about 50 cellos made by Antonio Stradivari that still exist. This cello was brought to London from Italy about 1780 by a well-known musician, Felice de Giardini (1716-1796), who sold it to Lord Aylesford, a well-known amateur player. It was retained by his family for about 100 years, hence the name of this cello. In 1875, it was sold to George Hart, violin dealer of London, who sold it to Baron Heath in 1880. However, it was bought back by George Hart, in 1882 and re-sold to Mr. Richard Bennett, who in later years formed a fine collection of Cremonese masterpieces and who at one time possessed famous instruments made by Stradivari. Not being a cellist himself, Mr. Bennett parted with the instrument and left it on sale with W. E. Hill & Sons in 1892. The firm retained possession of it until 1898, when it once more passed into the hands of George Hart, who later sold it to Mr. Keene of Buenos Aires. It was purchased by Maucotel of Paris in 1923 and was sold in Germany through the intermediary of Mr. Hamma of Stuttgart. It later formed part of the famous Harry Wahl collection in Helsinki, Finland. At the termination of the World War II, he sold many of his instruments to Emil Herrmann of New York, and in 1946, through him it went to the possession of Gregor Piatigorsky (1903-1976), the world-acclaimed cellist who resided in Philadelphia. Janos Starker (1924-2013) had the use of this cello during 1950-1965 and made 35 recordings with the instrument. In the mid 1960’s, the cello passed into the hands of Mr. Werro of Berne, Switzerland and had been kept by his family since then. Nippon Music Foundation acquired this instrument in June 2003 from the Werro family through a luthier.
