What does my "copie" violin mean?

Question

I have an ollldd violin that was my moms when she was younger. I looked inside at the little label thingie and it says "Antone Becker Copie Antonious Stradivarius" then a number i cant read lol and it says its made in Germany. What does copie mean? Does it mean like copy?

Answer 1

As was previously said, Copie simply means Copy. As far as Antone Becker goes, there are lots of the cheap Anton Becker instruments around but if your Mom played it when she was young, I doubt that it is one of those. There is no listing in any violin makers book or database with the name Antone Becker, but since it says made in Germany, it was most likely made between 1921 and 1939 or after 1990. This is because the McKinley Tariff act required the country of origin be written in English. Between 39-90 it would have had to say East or West Germany. I am surprised that they used "copie" in a German instrument since that is usually used in French instruments.



There was also an Antoine Becker, but those instruments were French and made by the JTL company in the late 1800's.



EDIT: 13across. You presume wrong, ALL violins entering the US after 1891 were required to have the country of origin, between 1891 and 1914 it simply had to state the country of origin in any language, then between 1914 and 1921 it had to say "made in", then again it was changed to require the country of origin to be in English. Instruments not following this would have to be dated prior to 1891 or a label added in immigration. this is often when we see a separate "Made in" label from the makers label added as they are often newer than the original. You are correct in the start date of East/West Germany, it was just a typo, however since the war started in 39 and virtually no instruments made it to the US until 49, that point is also fairly moot.



My point was that since the posters instrument is labeled "made in Germany", it has to be post 1921-1939 when the war started or after 1990 after reunification. Obviously if they supplied wrong information, then this is all moot and there is no point in going there.



Also, the look of the labels age and if the varnish is shiny or not is not really a clue. I can make a brand new label in a few minutes of time that looks 200 years old and could fool anyone that is not a violin expert. I can also make a violin shiny or dull or anywhere in between. This is up to the maker and there are violins with original varnish in all varieties. These are generalities that do not hold water in violin identification. As you said, personal information is helpful, but I can't count the number of times that an instruments age did not add up to the memory of passed down information.



One last point is that labels are easily inserted and removed and really mean very little to the improper identification of an instrument, a violin appraiser will rarely look at a label until after an opinion has been established. On commercial instruments, what we call trade instruments - those made from around 1880-1930 in European factories, we will look at the label to see if it will say which factory it came from, or a clue such as a model that a certain factory made. This is also just a backup of what the appraiser has seen in the instrument itself.

Answer 2

A footnote to what Del said - click Edit on your question, then click Extend Expiry. That''ll maximise your chances of getting a good answer.



[EDIT] @dlashof - considering the dates, one possibility is that the instrument was brought from Europe to the USA by an immigrant - perhaps a refugee - as a personal possession, so the McKinley Tariff Act would presumably not apply. Also, Germany was only divided into East and West in 1949, not 1939. Further, for practical reasons (like being at war), German exports to the USA between 1942 and 1945 were effectively nil.



@Katy, I think we need more information. Does the label say "Made in Germany", or is that your translation? Could you give an exact transcription of all you can read, with dots for the bits you can't. Is it printed, or is some or all of it handwritten? If so, which bits? Can you describe the style of printing or handwriting, so that we can picture it?



Or, even better, could you take a photo of the label, upload it somewhere, and post a link in your AD?



(I suspect that "Antone" actually reads "Antoine", that would tie in with someone making for, or implying a connection with, the French market - just as the French word "copie" does. On the other hand, the German "Anton" is also possible.)



(In context, Becker is claiming to produce a violin in the style of Stradivarius; but I can't tell whether he's boasting of his skill, or simply saying that this is a proper violin not a street fiddle.)



How old does the label look? 20 years old, or 100 years old (browning, ragged at the edges, etc)?



How old does the violin look? Ditto. Just your general impression, does it look shiny and modern, or soft and used like a family heirloom?



In what years (roughly) was your mom playing it, and in what country? Did she tell you any stories about it?



Has your family been in the USA time out of mind? Or, did some of them arrive in the USA from Europe during the late 19th or the 20th centuries? and if so, from where?



Any details could help. Your question is getting intriguing, post some AD.



[EDIT2] @dishlaf. Thanks for the correction on the McKinley Act. I was sure that your 49 was no more than a typo. As regards appearance and condition, I had in mind that they might be some sort of guide, assuming that no-one has deliberately set out to change them. I fully accept that the only way to arrive at some sort of certainty is for a skilled person to examine the instrument itself.

Answer 3

Anton Becker Violin

Answer 4

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RE:

What does my "copie" violin mean?

I have an ollldd violin that was my moms when she was younger. I looked inside at the little label thingie and it says "Antone Becker Copie Antonious Stradivarius" then a number i cant read lol and it says its made in Germany. What does copie mean? Does it mean like copy?

Answer 5

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It is a sarcastic response to a situation that requests sympathy. The image of the violin is taken from melodramatic movies where a sad situation has violin or other orchestral music playing to heighten that sense of sadness or loss. So the "littlest violin" means that the person is being condescending toward the speaker. He is explaining that he has very little sympathy for the other person.

Answer 6

It sounds like a copy of a Stradivarius model violin by one Anton Becker. Hopefully, our violin expert dlashof will see this and shed some illuminating light on the matter.

Answer 7

copie violin