The back, in two pieces, is of handsome wood marked by a broad curl slanting downwards from the joint. That of the sides is similar. The head is somewhat plain. The table is marked of excellent pine, the grain opening out on the flank. The varnish is of an orange-red color. Possessed by a Belgian amateur who kept it for some thirty years with great care, the internal condition is original is untouched. The entire instrument is in fine preservation, and it is a good and characteristic example of Stradivari’s work. The label in this violin is the original.

The name of this violin is derived from Duke of Camposelice of France.

This violin belonged to an amateur player named Tauzia living in provincial France from whom Duke of Camposelice purchased it in the 1880’s via Gand and Bernardel of Paris. In 1889, W. E. Hill & Sons purchased the violin from the Duchess, and in the following year, sold it to an amateur, Captain Audley Harvey residing in Bedfordshire, England. In 1894, the violin was sold to Mrs. Gardner, who founded the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, and from her, it passed into the hands of the composer and violinist Martin Loeffler (1861–1935) who played and kept the violin until 1928. The violin passed into the hands of Mr. Ralph H. Norton through the firm of Rudolph Wurlitzer of New York, and then via Emil Herrmann, a prominent luthier in New York, it went to Dr. Kuhne who owned a collection of Stradivarius quartet. In 1937, this violin was exhibited at the prestigious Cremona Exhibition of Instruments as Dr. Kuhne’s collection. 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 Mr. Daniel Lejeune that Nippon Music Foundation acquired this instrument in September 2004.