American Viola by Carl Becker Sr, Chicago #193 c1928

Carl G. Becker Sr’s grandfather Herman Macklett was an early American violin maker, and Carl followed in his footsteps from a young age. Born in Chicago in 1887, he built his first violin in 1901, and went to work for the firm of Lyon & Healy under the guidance of John Hornsteiner until 1908. At that time Becker left the firm to work for Hornsteiner, and left in 1923 for the firm of William Lewis & Son. After over 40 years with the Lewis firm, Becker set up his own business in Chicago with his son Carl F. Becker in 1969. His production was quite extensive, totaling 414 violins, 17 violas, and 63 cellos before 1948, at which point he began to work jointly with his son. Stradivari and Guarneri models appear alongside his own, and his entire output features excellent wood, lovely oil-based varnish, and exemplary workmanship. An interesting quirk in the way Carl G. Becker labeled his instruments can often result in non-sequential numbering. Becker numbered his instruments sequentially in the order in which they were made but the year as written on the label reflected the year in which the instrument was sold. So a violin numbered 167 was made before a violin numbered 168 although the years on the labels might not necessarily reflect this order.