WELL-KNOWN DUTCH VIOLINMAKERS
Fred Lindeman Serge Stam
BOUMEESTER,
JAN
Quakenbrück (Germany) c. 1629 Amsterdam 1681
Boumeester was born in Quakenbrück, just across the present German border
near Coevorden, and we come across him for the first time in the Amsterdam
archives in documents referring to his marriage in 1653. At around the
same time references to a namesake, Johannes can be found in the Leiden
archives. He was also born in Quakenbrück and was certainly a member of
his family. He was an instrument maker about whom little is known. The
arrival of Jan Boumeester in Amsterdam would have been due to the fact
that he was a nephew by marriage of Gerrit Menslage (Essen c. 1606 Amsterdam
1661), an instrument maker who had settled in the city much earlier. They
both lived in the immediate vicinity of the Oude Kerk, a district where
instrument makers had already been working for a long time (see map).
His son Harmanus Boumeester (1656-1678) was also a violinmaker, but it
is certain that the Boumeesters also had assistants in their workshop
Jan Vos (d. 1721), among others. In 1704 Vos took over the workshop
which, after the death of Jan Boumeester, had first been carried on by
his widow and, later, by their daughter Margareta. Cornelis Kamp (c. 1657
c. 1706) was also probably one of the assistants and, furthermore, it
is conceivable that Gijsbert Verbeeck (1642 1717), stepson of Hendrick
Jacobs by his first marriage, worked there, just as his son, Jacobus Verbeeck
(1675-1702 or later). Dirck ten Bos (c.1660-in or after 1704) may have
also been an assistant. Whether or not this was the case, it was an important
workshop, which existed for almost threequarters of a century. Various
other instrument makers were active in the vicinity in this period. We
know that after his death Gerrit Menslage's workshop was carried on by
his widow with the aid of her assistant, Arent van Munster (c. 1646-1677),
and by Munster alone after her death in 1670. Jan Boumeester's violins
were inspired by an Amati model. A striking feature is the long corners
of the rib structure, which are reminiscent of the Flemish archaic construction
style. The f-holes usually curve strongly inwards, creating a slight arching.
The eyelets, the rounded ends of the f-holes, are large and the result
of this is that the wings of the f-holes are long and narrow. Contrary
to what Max Möller writes, we know of no violins made by him which have
whalebone purfling, and as far as this is concerned, it puts him outside
the tradition of the Amsterdam violin makers of this period. His warm,
golden-brown tinted varnish, like that of his contemporaries, was of extremely
high quality. It is both astonishing and extremely sad that, despite the
large numbers of instruments that must have been made in this period,
so little of his work has survived (photos: pp. 178-179)
CUYPERS,
JOHANNES THEODORUS
Dornick near Emmerich (Germany) 1724 The Hague 1808
Nothing is known of Cuypers' youth. A dated label shows that he was established
as a violinmaker in The Hague in 1750. His earliest instruments were already
constructed in a style that was completely at variance with that which
had been adopted by instrument makers up to that time. It was a style
so in keeping with the work of the Paris violinmakers of the time that
it was once assumed that he had learned the profession there. It is also
thought that perhaps Benoît Joseph Boussu, who worked in Brussels around
1750-1780, could have been his master. Very recently a Boussu violin was
found with a label 'Leiden 176..' It seems most probable, however, that
he was trained by Jean Joseph Wattier (c. 1724-1755, established in The
Hague). Despite intensive archive research, no proof of this has so far
been found. A vague indication could be that Cuypers' sons (baptised Jean
François and Johannes Bernardus) had the same Christian names as Wattier's
sons. But this actually proves nothing. Cuypers remained in The Hague
all his life; in his later years assisted by his sons Johannes Franciscus
(1766-1828) and Johannes Bernardus (1781-1840). Although Franciscus lived
in Amsterdam from 1783 to 1823, he continued to do work for his father.
Bernardus' eldest son, Johannes Franciscus Jr. (1808-1881), originally
worked for a while as a violinmaker, but soon became a piano dealer. The
Cuypers dynasty was unusually productive and made violins in every conceivable
format as well as a large number of cellos and a number of (mostly small)
violas. The early work of Johannes Theodorus Cuypers is elegant and shows
an affinity with the style of Louis Guersan of Paris (c. 1760) and of
Benoît Joseph Boussu of Brussels (c. 1750). The varnish, with its gold-yellow
colour and shellac-like texture, is also comparable. In his earliest work
Cuypers was already making heads which had a clearly personal signature;
the scroll is not more or less circular, but rather an upright oval, and
the back of the peg box is only slightly grooved. After about 1780 his
style changed and the design was heavier, with broad edges and more substantial
arching a style he remained faithful to for the rest of his life. The
maple of his instruments is probably native wood, usually quite narrowly
grained. We often come across bellies made from a single piece of wood.
An enormous quantity of this wood must have been bought in at some point,
because we find the same wood over and over again, even in the instruments
of his sons. Often the darker strips of the purfling have faded. In the
early years he used printed labels, but he soon began to write these by
hand, always indicating his domicile with 'sHage'. When he was much older
he added a third line indicating his age - 'etatis suae 78', for example.
Frequently, Cuypers' cellos, at variance with his other instruments, show
a clear Stainer influence in the archings and the design of the f-holes.
Throughout his whole life they are reminiscent of his earliest violins.
(See chapter 2 for details of one of his violins in its original condition.)
(Photos: pp. 180-182-183-184.) JACOBS,
HENDRICK
Amsterdam c. 1629 Amsterdam 1704
The best known violinmaker of the ŒAmsterdam School' was possibly a pupil
of Francis Lupo (see under Kleynman). He married twice, both times to
a widow who already had a son from her first marriage, and in both cases
the stepson became a violinmaker. The elder was Gijsbert Harmens Verbeeck
(1642-1717), the younger Pieter Rombouts (1667-1728). Little is known
about Gijsbert Verbeeck. He would certainly have been a pupil of Jacobs,
but he moved to Warmoesstraat where he lived for the rest of his life.
We know of no work which can be ascribed to him with certainty, nor is
any known by his son Jacobus Verbeeck (b. 1675) also registered as a violinmaker.
Perhaps both worked as apprentices in the Boumeester workshop, which was
on the corner of Warmoesstraat and Oudezijds Armsteeg. Pieter Rombouts,
in contrast, worked for Jacobs his entire life and after Jacobs' death
he carried on the workshop at the Botermarkt, between Reguliersgracht
and Utrechtsestraat, (see further under Rombouts). Hendrick Jacobs' early
work shows a great similarity with that of Kleynman clear amatisé arching,
long corners, decorative, slender f-holes, and a varnish that is almost
golden-yellow. Sadly, few of his instruments from this period have survived.
In around 1670 his violins became somewhat sturdier in design, the whalebone
purfling was rather broader and the corners shorter, the arching fuller,
both in the length and width. To fit in stylistically with this, the f-holes
were wider and sturdier in design. There was now a little more colour
in the varnish. In this period, too, the heads remain elegant in line,
with a small ear and narrow edges. From about 1685 onwards Jacobs' instruments
show the presence of Rombouts in the workshop. The three most striking
signs of this are the design of the f-holes, the wings of which now have
long points; the purfling, always whalebone, which was now wider; and
the colour of the varnish. While previously this was golden-yellow or
brown-red, red now made its appearance a glowing, thick, dark-red layer
of varnish of the very highest quality, which Rombouts would continue
to use until well into the eighteenth century. It is not implausible that
after 1690 Jacobs left the vast majority of the work to Rombouts, so that
in a certain sense his death passed unnoticed. There is a strong suspicion
partly because no early cellos are known that the cellos bearing a
Jacobs' signature were all made by Pieter Rombouts. Of course, Hendrick
Jacobs made all his instruments according to the Baroque construction
described on page 124. Nevertheless, at least one violin is known in which
the neck and the top block are made out of a single piece of maple, a
manner of working adopted from the archaic method of construction. Occasionally
he trod unusual paths, such as in the case of a violin known to us which
has a back and sides of rosewood and a 'negative' purfling which consisted
of a dark strip of wood with light strips on both sides. (photos: p. 188) |
