Violin, "The Rougemont," by Antonio Stradivari, 1703

In the 1920s, Henry Ford purchased several exquisite Italian violins, including this 1703 Stradivari. From the 1680s until the 1730s, Antonio Stradivari was the leading stringed-instrument maker in Cremona, Italy--an important center of stringed instrument production. Henry Ford's 1703 Stradivari violin was made during Stradivari's "golden era." It is known as the "Rougemont" because it was thought to have been owned by a family of that name.