Carpenter and musician Soren Bruns owned this violin, playing it with the American Cadet Band Orchestra. The violin contains a curious label indicating it is a Stradivari, leading some to assume famed Italian instrument artist Antonius Stradivarius (1644-1737) created it.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the copy instrument industry grew. Violin makers in Europe did not intend the Stradivari copy violins as forgeries but were paying homage to him. Copy violins follow Stradivari’s work with exact sizes and dimensions of original Stradivarius instruments. This violin likely came from Germany.