Tom Taylor Stradivarius

{{short description|Antique violin}}

The Tom Taylor Stradivarius is an antique violin made by renowned luthier Antonio Stradivari in Cremona, Italy, circa 1732. Its namesake is British art critic Tom Taylor.{{cite web |url=http://www.archiviodellaliuteriacremonese.it/en/strumenti/1732_violino_taylor.aspx |title=1732 – Violin "Tom Taylor" |accessdate=2020-07-15 }} Taylor was married to its onetime owner, violinist and composer Laura Wilson Taylor née Barker (1819–1905), who had been presented with the instrument by General Thomas Perronet Thompson during her youth.{{cite book |last=Ward |first=Leslie |date=1915 |title=Forty Years of 'Spy' |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/35466/35466-h/35466-h.htm |publisher=Project Gutenberg |isbn=978-1144779908 }}

It is best known for its use in the recording and appearance in the Canadian film The Red Violin (though the film actually tells the tale of the "Red Mendelssohn" Stradivarius, which has been owned by American violinist Elizabeth Pitcairn since 1990). The Tom Taylor was played by Joshua Bell,{{cite web | author=James Pegolotti | title=The Gibson Stradivarius | url=http://www.joshuabell.com/biography | publisher=Joshua Bell Official website | date=26 July 2004 | accessdate=2008-08-12 | url-status=dead | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080725180305/http://www.joshuabell.com/biography | archivedate=25 July 2008 }} who later sold it for $2 million to pay for his current instrument: the Gibson Stradivarius.

The current owner is unknown.{{cite web |url=http://www.cozio.com/Instrument.aspx?id=541 |title=Cozio.com: Violin by Antonio Stradivari, 1732 (Tom Taylor) |accessdate=2010-03-07 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100207231946/http://cozio.com/Instrument.aspx?id=541 |archivedate=2010-02-07 }} access date 2013-10-14

The Tom Taylor was previously owned by Patricia Travers (from 1938 to 1954, which was sold to a benefactor who loaned it to California State University, Northridge).