Cocko / Choco / Choc / Hoch , who is thought by some to be an Englishman who trained in the Sellas workshops, and gained entry into the lutemakers' guild by marriage, thus avoiding the problem of being illiterate (which is generally supposed to be why the labels & etiquettes carry similar variations on his Italianised name).
Interestingly, recent research in the Venetian archives has revealed that a maker called Cristoforo Coch was born in either 1620 or 1623, in Atriban, near Innsbruck, his father being Gallo Coch. He married Margherita Hausbrilin in 1638, and is referred to as Christoforo Choc in 1641; by 1668, he was mentioned in documents as having retired, and no longer the owner of a violin and lutemaking workshop. Various moulds for guitar-making are listed in an inventory taken of his workshop contents in 1664, although there of course remains the problem of definite attribution of this guitar, which cannot be by the same 'Christoforo Choc', since it is dated 1602.
The inlay on the rear of the neck of the original guitar (in kingwood inlaid into ivory) is similar in style to other instruments by him, including a theorbo in Berlin, a liuto attiorbato in London, and one in Nürnberg. Whichever 'Choco' made this instrument, it is a very interesting, early example of a flat-backed Venetian guitar.
We are grateful to Charles Beare, the distinguished expert and researcher of Venetian luthiers, for supplying background information on the Venice lute and guitar-making workshops.
[from http://www.lutesandguitars.co.uk/htm/cat11.htm] acc. 04/01/15