Multimedia Art Productions

Jeannine Lambrechts-Douillez

THE HISTORY OF HARPSICHORD MAKING IN ANTWERPEN IN THE 18TH CENTURY

Corrections

JOANNES DANIEL DULCKEN (HESSEN, 1710/1716 - ANTWERPEN, 11. 4. 1757) was the first harpsichord maker from Germany to settle in Antwerpen after the official resolution of 173827. Coming from Maastricht28 (where his son was born in 1733/3429), he arrived only a short time afterwards. The exact place and date of his birth have not yet been found (further research should be the task of our German colleagues, bearing in mind not only that Burney referred to Dulcken as a Hessian, but also that there is a small town named Dulken in the vicinity of Mönchengladbach). He and his wife Susanna Knopfell were accepted as members of the Reformed Church, known as "kruyskerk", in 174030. In 1744 Dulcken was appointed an "ouderling"** , a title offered only to persons of importance in the community31. His workshop was situated in Hopland, not far from Jodestraat, where Ruckers had his premises in the 17th century. Like J. van den Elsche, Dulcken had a further occupation: selling glass objects, especially bottles, for a glass factory at Ykenvliet32. After his death on 11th April 1757, his widow Susanna Knopfell continued the sale of glass-ware33. Her main concern at that time was continuing the making of harpsichords.
Dulcken's eldest son Johannes Lodewijk had been living in Amsterdam since 1755. He married Catrina Koning on 23rd May 1756 in Sloterdijk, needing his parents' consent to do so, since he had not yet reached the age of consent34. As a direct consequence of certain differences of opinion between Johannes Lodewijk and his parents, the latter disposed themselves in favour of their youngest son Johannes (1742-1775). In their will of 25th August 175135, they sought to protect only the rights of the surviving partner. However, immediately after Lodewijk's wedding the father inserted a clause (on 23rd February 175736) bequeathing all objects relating to harpsichord making to his youngest son Johan. On Joannes Daniel's death three out of five children were still under age: Maria Sofia (born 26th January 1740), Joannes (born 10th September 1742) and Joanna Elisabeth (born 3rd February 174737). Therefore Susanna Dulcken, his widow, presented a request dated 22nd April 1763 to the City Magistrate in Brussels asking for certain privileges allowing her to move from Antwerpen to Brussels38, She is referred to in this document, of which the original has not yet been found, as the widow of Antoon Dulcken. The text is only known from copies in the official registers and this fact leads us to assume that the name of Antoon has been erroneously used, as Mrs. Dulcken's late husband was called Joannes Daniel and the son, for whom his father took preferential dispositions in his will, was Joannes (and not Joannes Lodewijk). One can well understand the widow's desire to settle somewhere else, since at the time in question two other harpsichord makers were active in Antwerpen: Jacobus Van den Elsche and Joannes Petrus Bull. Mrs. Dulcken was compelled to sell her husband's house and workshop on 3rd August 176339. She asked for permission from the City Magistrate in Antwerpen to move to Brussels and for this purpose she also requested permission on 25th January 1764 to dispose of the money belonging to her children under age. In her requests she said that she wanted to establish a workshop for harpsichord making in Brussels with her son and son-in-law, Johan Herman Faber.
This Faber is probably the same painter mentioned in the ledgers of the St. Lucasgilde in 1753/1754 as apprentice to Joannes Josephus Horemans II!, who specialized in still life and genre paintings with musical instruments. A painting by now in the Rockoxhuis in Antwerpen, depicts a musical family gathering, centered around a harpsichord, on which can be very clearly read: DUL ... 1764. The instrument was probably made by his apprentice’s brother-in-law, Joannes Dulcken. Is it going too far to assume that it is the Dulcken Family which is represented here with the three daughters (of which the two youngest would have been 24 and 17 years at that time) and Johan (aged 22) with his violoncello (fig. 156)? Susanna Dulcken's motives for leaving Antwerpen are not obvious. She claimed that conditions were more favourable in Brussels42, Times had changed, and it was probably no longer possible for one family to execute hegemony over a whole craft, as was the case with the Ruckers Family; furthermore, two other builders were active in the making of an instrument that was declining in popularity with the wider acceptance of the pianoforte.
The date of Mrs. Dulcken's death is not known; it might be some time before 1771, as there is no longer any mention of his mother when Johannes settled in Amsterdam (13th June43). This apparently did not effect Joannes Lodewijk Dulcken who in 1774 suddenly decided to return to Antwerpen, hoping to obtain the same privileges from the Magistrate, which had once attracted his father. He seems to have had temporary housing at the Vrijdagmarkt from 177345. In his reply the City Magistrate rejects his request with the argument that he had been away for too long and that he wanted the mere privileges without having to comply with the regulations, e. g., compulsory membership of the St.-Lucasgilde; it was also said that he had left The Hague for reasons not indicated and that his wife was still living there. In the same document the City Magistrate explained that in his opinion craftsmen do not belong to one of the four liberal arts. The making of harpsichords is the "profession of a craftsman, notwithstanding the fact that it is more or less indispensable for music, which is recognized as a liberal art ... If a harpsichord maker wants to be considered as an artist, the blacksmith who makes the chisel for a sculptor could also be considered as such"46.
We had no indication at all as to how long he stayed in Antwerpen, but a Louis Dulcken, who can be identified with Johan Lodewijk, appeared in Paris in 178347.
Antwerp harpsichords were still being exported during the 18th century. Instruments by Joannes Daniel Dulcken were known to have been shipped to England48. Deliveries to France included in 1743 an instrument for the archbishop of Cambrai; the maker offered a two-year guarantee for any constructional faults49.
From the new documents it is obvious that, in relation to the surviving instruments, three different masters with the name Dulcken have to be considered: Johannes Daniel, the father, coming from Germany via Maastricht to Antwerpen; Johannes Lodewijk (Louis), the elder son, active especially in Amsterdam, Middelburg, Den Haag, but also in Antwerpen and Paris; and finally, Johannes who continued his father's workshop together with his mother in Antwerpen and who later moved with her to Brussels and still later, alone to Amsterdam ( + Den Haag !!).

**OUDERLING - "Elder" (dat is het gewone woord). ZEKER NIET ALDERMAN, want dat is een schepen in het burgerlijke bestuursorgaan (Magistraat). Het beleidsorgaan in een hervormde of gereformeerde kerk (in de 18de eeuw nog interchangeable) bestaat uit 1. predikant (dominee) 2. een aantal ouderlingen en 3. diakenen. Dit heet het presbyteraanse kerkorganisatie. Presbyteros = de oudste. Samen vormen ze het presbyterium, ook wel consistorie genoemd. Tegenwoordig kerkeraad. In protestant Church polity the governing body is generally threefold a 1. Minister (or pastor or teaching elder), 2. A number of ruling elders, and 3. deacons. The governing body is called 'the session'.


27 A.S.A., Gilden & Ambachten (GA), nº 4006, 1738. Documents received in connection with the government investigation of the crafts.
28 He obviously had to protect financial interests still in 1750. Vide A.S.A., N. 3086, P. J. G. Steenecruys, 1750-1751, fº 40-40 vº.
29 A. J. Gierveld: Het Nederlands huisorgel in 17de en 18de eeuw. Utrecht 1977, pp. 119-121.
30 A.S.A., Par. 173, Dopen en huwelijken-Hervormde Kerk, 1735-1780, p. 27: "Lijste der ledematen vande
kruyskercke binnen Antwerpen ... 30 maart 1740: Johan Daniel Dulken en desselfs huysvrouw Susanna Maria
31 A.S.A., Par. 173, Dopen en huweli)ken-Hervormde Kerk, 1735-1780, p. 368.
32 Gazette van Antwerpen, 5th March 1756: "Bij J. Daniel Dulcken, facteur van de nieuwe glasblaserije van Ykenvliet zijn te koop alle soorten van flesen ... Die daer van gelieft gedient te sijn, kan sich addresseren bij den voorsz. Dulcken in't Hoplant over de Engelsche Theresen tot Antwerpen".
33 Gazette van Antwerpen, 14th March 1758.
34 Gierveld (note 29), p. 119. - A.S.A., N. 3090, J. Steenecruys, 1755, f° 517.
35 A. J. Gierveld: The harpsichord and clavichord in the Dutch republic. In: Tijdschrift van de Vereniging voor Nederlandse Muziekgeschiedenis 31, 1981, pp. 117-166. - A.S.A., N. 3086, J. Steenecruys, 1750—1751, fº 326-327 v°.
36 A.S.A., N. 3092, J. Steenecruys, 1757, f° 42-42 vº.
37 A.S.A., Par. 173, Dopen en Huwelijken-Hermvorde Kerk, 1735—1780.
38 Brussel, Algemeen RiJksarchief, Raad vand Financien, n° 4855. Vide also Van der Straeten (note 4), vol. 1,
p. 198.
39 A.S.A., Sr. 1218, 1763, f° 308-309 vo.
40 A.S.A., PK. 854, Rekwestboek 1763-1764, f° 63-63 v0.
41 Rombouts-Van Lerius (note 2), vol. 2, p. 802.
42 Vide note 33.
43 Gierveld (note 29), p. 120, note 4.
44 A.S.A., PK. 449, Minuten van Secretarius P. Van Setter, 1774—1775, n° 45.
45 Gazette van Antwerpen, 10th September 1773: "Jean Louis Dulcken (oudste zoone van den overledene Daniel Dulcken) meester orgel en clavecimbelmaeker tegenwoordig te Antwerpen, met intentie om aldaer met'er tijd te komen woonen, presenteert zijn dienst om te maecken oft repareren orgels oft clavecimbels ... Hij is gelogeert in den Arent bij de Vrijdagmerkt, alwaer 8 volgende dagen te zien is een nieuw stuk van sijn werk sijnde een
clavecimbel met dobbele clavieren"; 24th March 1775: "Louis Dulcken ... adverteerd dat ... te sien zal zijn, een raey stuk van zijn werk, zijnde een ordinaire clavecimbel, 5 octave compleet, daer aen een nieuw inventie zal zijn. waer door men deminuento en crescento zal konnen spelen na believe zonder de handen van't clavier te zetten, en zonder dat het eenig beswaernisse bij brengd. En N.B. deze zoo noodige en lang gezogte inventie kan aen alle reeds gemaekte stucken aengebragt worden zonder aen het stuk verandering te maeken en men kan verzekerd zijn, dat hat seer sollide werk is, derwijl den maeker er 10 jaeren voor repondeert".
46 A.S.A., PK. 449, Minuten van Secretarius P. Van Setter, 1774-1775, nº 46.
47 Gierveld (note 29), p. 120.
49 A.S.A., N. 270, J. M. Bervoets, 1740-1742, nº 56.
48 A.S.A., PK. 841, Rekwestboek 1750, fO 55-55 v°.
5o Antwerpen, Algemeen Rijksarchief, Akten van Overlijden, Burgerlijke stand, l'an XII 1803—1804.