IT’S the Rolls-Royce of violins, the Chateau Petrus of stringed instruments.

It’s a Stradivarius – one of about 600 left in the world and one of only 14 fiddles made by the great violin master in 1700.

And it’s for sale.

On May 5, Christie’s East is putting on the block the “Taft” Strad – which gets its name from the sister-in-law of president William Howard Taft, who bought it in 1915.

The fiddle is expected to fetch more than $1 million.

“This violin has a wonderful provenance – certificates of ownership, written and oral history and even bills of sale,” says Kerry Keane, international head of Christie’s musical instruments department and appraiser on PBS’ “Antiques Roadshow.”

The Taft was purchased by Mrs. Charles Phelps Taft – a founder of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and sister-in-law of the 27th president – to give to Emil Heermann, the orchestra’s concertmaster.

Many years later, it found its current owner, someone Christie’s will identify only as “a gentleman from abroad,” whose daughter, a professional violinist in New York, regularly plays it and the family’s other Strad.

Come next Friday, the Taft will likely find a new home – and another chapter in its long and lacquered life.

“This was an instrument that’s long been appreciated by the public,” says Keane, himself a former fiddlemaker.

“I would hope it would find a home similar to that, either in Cincinnati or New York, or with another symphony orchestra.”