The Couchet family were

Flemish Flemish may refer to: * Flemish, adjective for Flanders, Belgium * Flemish region, one of the three regions of Belgium *Flemish Community, one of the three constitutionally defined language communities of Belgium * Flemish dialects, a Dutch dialec ...

harpsichord A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a musical keyboard, keyboard. Depressing a key raises its back end within the instrument, which in turn raises a mechanism with a small plectrum made from quill or plastic that plucks one ...

and

virginal The virginals is a keyboard instrument of the harpsichord family. It was popular in Europe during the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods. Description A virginals is a smaller and simpler, rectangular or polygonal, form of harpsichord. ...

makers in

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

, closely associated with, and descendants of, the

Ruckers The Ruckers family (variants: Ruckaert, Ruckaerts, Rucqueer, Rueckers, Ruekaerts, Ruijkers, Rukkers, Rycardt) were harpsichord and Virginals, virginal makers from the Southern Netherlands based in Antwerp in the 16th and 17th century. Their influe ...

family.

Joannes Couchet (or Jan Couchet) (2 February 1615 – 30 March 1655) was a grandson of Hans Ruckers. He became the

apprentice Apprenticeship is a system for training a potential new practitioners of a Tradesman, trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study. Apprenticeships may also enable practitioners to gain a license to practice in ...

of his uncle Joannes Ruckers in 1626 and became a master after the latter's death in 1642. There are five instruments known to be by Joannes Couchet still in existence, most of which have had ''ravalements'', all dating from around 1650. Three of his seven children became harpsichord makers:

Angela van den Brant Angela van den Brant was a 17th-century business owner, harpsichord maker and member of the Antwerp based Couchet Family. She was married to Joannes Couchet who was a descendent of the renowned Ruckers Family. Following her husband's death she ...

was married to Joannes Couchet and following his death, she worked with Simon Hagaerts to maintain her late husband's workshop and train her sons. Petrus Joannes Couchet became a master harpsichord maker and member of the

Guild of St Luke The Guild of Saint Luke was the most common name for a city guild for painters and other artists in early modern Europe, especially in the Low Countries. They were named in honor of the Four Evangelists, Evangelist Saint Luke, Luke, the patron sa ...

in 1655 or 1656; Joseph Joannes Couchet became a member in 1666 or 1667. His instruments in existence today are a single manual harpsichord dated 1671 (possibly by Petrus Joannes), given a ''ravalement'' and made into a double manual by

Pascal Taskin Pascal-Joseph Taskin (27 July 1723 – 9 February 1793) was a Holy Roman Empire-born French harpsichord and piano maker. Biography Pascal Taskin, born in Theux near Liège, worked in Paris for most of his life. Upon his arrival in Paris, he ap ...

in 1778; a single manual harpsichord dated 1679; and a double manual harpsichord dated 1680 and again given a ''grand ravalement'' by Taskin in 1781; a similar unsigned instrument likewise worked on by Taskin may also have been his. Maria Abraham Couchet likewise became a member of the guild in 1666 or 1667. Joannes Couchet's instruments are virtually identical to those of the

family; some later instruments signed by Joannes Ruckers were probably made by Joannes Couchet during his apprenticeship. The Couchet family went on to make further innovations to the models established by Ruckers, building a double manual harpsichord with extended range of FF to d, and sometimes introducing registrations of 8' 8' or 8' 8' 4' instead of the then-usual 8' 4'. Joseph Joannes Couchet made a harpsichord (1679) with two sets of jacks for one 8' set of

strings String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

References

*J. Lambrechts-Douillez, eds.: ''De familie Couchet/The Couchet Family'' (Antwerp, 1986) *Grant O'Brien: ''Ruckers: a Harpsichord and Virginal Building Tradition'' (

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...

, 1990) *

Frank Hubbard Frank Twombly Hubbard (May 15, 1920 – February 25, 1976) was an American harpsichord maker, a pioneer in the revival of historical methods of harpsichord building. Student days Born in New York, Hubbard studied English literature at Har ...

: ''Three Centuries of Harpsichord Making'' (

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is an academic publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University. It is a member of the Association of University Presses. Its director since 2017 is George Andreou. The pres ...

, 1965) *Donald H. Boalch: ''Makers of the Harpsichord and Clavichord 1440-1840'',

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

ASIN: 019318429X; 3rd edition (1995) *R. Russell: ''The Harpsichord and Clavichord'' (London, 1959) *G. Grant O'Brien: 'Couchet', Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed 2007-05-22), http://www.grovemusic.com/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Couchet Belgian musical instrument makers Harpsichord makers