"We set the return at a pretty high level because we feel the violin can be sold at a higher price than the capital we raised plus pledged returns," Song said. "We want to attract more people to participate in the first project of this kind."
The crowdfunding program attracted investors from Beijing, Guangdong and New York soon after information about it was posted on WeChat.
"I did not think too much about risks. I talked to other participants before joining in, and we all agreed that it is a valuable project," said Li Wozhou, a violin amateur based in Guangdong, who found the information online and later decided to invest.
"Having the chance to play one of the finest violins is rare," said Li, adding that it is the additional benefits - sharing information and learning more knowledge - that really attracted him to make the investment.
After selling the violin, Zhang and Song plan to launch the next program on a crowdfunding platform run by some e-commerce companies.
"I think in the near future, wealthy collectors in China might still prefer to collect porcelains and paintings than rare musical instruments. We hope to keep our channel open to a group of people who have interests in instrument collections," Zhang said.
Related story: Chinese art market expected to recover, China Daily
The once-hot art market is expected to recover in China, according to recent market research.
In the next three years, wealthy Chinese individuals will have a stronger appetite to invest in art and antiques and less willingness to invest in monetary assets, according to the annual Hurun Chinese luxury consumer survey released in January.
Calligraphy and paintings continue to take the lead this year as wealthy people's "favorite collectibles", followed by jewelry, watches and contemporary art, the report said.
The report was based on a survey of 463 millionaires with a personal wealth of at least 10 million yuan ($1.58 million).
A likely rebound of sales goes hand in hand with overall economic recovery in China and in other countries.
The global art market slid 11 percent year-on-year in 2016, driven down by weak global economic growth, uncertainties over Brexit and remaining problems associated with the post-2008 financial crisis, according to Huang Jun, an economics professor with Renmin University of China.
The presence of more and more millionaires in China, where younger collectors have significantly increased in recent years, is expected to drive a rebound of the art market, Huang said.
More types of art investment vehicles and the application of securitization techniques are expected to help revive the art market, she said.
The sales volume of fine arts alone at public auctions in China rocketed in barely 10 years to reach 41 percent of the global market in 2011, the biggest share in the world, according to data from Artprice, a specialist in art market information.
The sales of artworks peaked in the country in 2011 and began to decline in recent years.
Government efforts to curb luxury spending and the anti-corruption campaign have played a role in cooling down the Chinese buying frenzy, according to a study of the Chinese art market by artnet, an art market website.
