Lodewich Wilhelm Roumen

Life and Career

Lodewijk Roumen is one of those Dutch violin makers about whom little is known for certain. This applies not only to a significant part of his life as a violin maker, but especially to the stringed instruments known to have been made by him or attributed to him—information about which is lacking.

He was born in 1777 in the heart of Maastricht. There he was baptized as Lodewich Wilhelmus Joannes Roumen and spent more than 20 years of his life. It is not recorded when he moved to Kampen, but it was presumably in 1797. There, he married Anna Gezelschap in 1798. The following year, they had a daughter baptized in the Reformed Church of Kampen. He listed his occupation as merchant. In 1801, they moved to Groningen, where they had a son, Joannes Arnoldus, that same year.

Then, in 1804, he returned to Kampen. The city had become a bustling and prosperous Hanseatic city, attracting painters, philosophers, architects, and musicians. This led to a golden age in the arts. But just as important was the fact that Kampen was part of a network of trade routes that extended far into Europe. This enabled Lodewijk Roumen to buy, sell, and trade instruments. The family lived in Kampen for six years and had another daughter there.

They then left there as well, eventually settling in downtown Utrecht around 1810. There is no other information besides the fact that they had their son baptized in 1810 at St. Martin’s Church on Jeruzalemsteeg. Lodewijk Roumen would continue to work there until he left for Amsterdam.

Although he did not register as a merchant and instrument maker in Amsterdam until 1825, he had presumably moved there earlier. And once again, he settled right in the heart of the city’s oldest part. Anna died in 1830; a year later, he remarried. In 1832, Lodewijk registered as a music book dealer, and from that year on, he not only sold music books but also published them. Within just a few years, he became a major publisher of music books and had a substantial catalog of his own. It wasn’t until 1836, after he had moved again, that he was listed as a “musical instrument maker” and shopkeeper. The advertisement announcing the opening of his “Magazijn” stated that he carried a selection of string instruments by “renowned German and French makers, as well as English and Viennese pianofortes,” and later also included trumpets, horns, strings, and tickets to just about every major concert and theater performance in Amsterdam.

After the death of his third wife in 1840, he continued to live in Amsterdam for another three years, but closed his business in 1843. His son Joannes Arnoldus, who had been working with him for a long time, took over the business. Lodewijk returned to Kampen for the third time that year. He had earned enough money to buy a house there. There, he continued to build violins and make bows. In 1846, the exhibition “Products of Overijssel Industry and Art” in Kampen featured a violin and two bows by the “highly regarded musical instrument maker, Mr. L. W. Roumen of Kampen.” He died there in 1854.

Lodewijk is not listed in the archives of Kampen, Groningen, or Utrecht as a violin maker, but as a merchant. It is likely that he only came into contact with prominent violin makers from outside the city later on; at that time, there were no other violin makers working in Utrecht, Groningen, or Kampen. Whether he apprenticed with anyone—and if so, with whom—cannot be said with certainty. None of the violin makers known at the time mentioned him as an apprentice.

However, there is good reason to believe that a connection existed between Lodewijk Roumen and the violin maker Andreas Gambon. Gambon worked in downtown Maastricht from 1767 to 1805, where he was the only violin maker. Around the age of 12—the age at which schooling ended and children chose a trade—Lodewijk Roumen lived just a stone’s throw away from Andreas Gambon. This makes it plausible that they knew each other. This suspicion is reinforced by the fact that some of Roumen’s instruments bear a resemblance to the violins made by Andreas Gambon. While we cannot say for certain whether he apprenticed with Gambon, it is highly likely that he learned the craft from him. Balfoort counts Gambon among the great Dutch masters.

Work and Influence

Few instruments by Lodewijk Roumen are known to exist. The earliest violins associated with him date from after 1810, when he was living and working in Utrecht. No instruments from the period when he worked in Kampen and Groningen have been found.

The influence of French violin-making in the Netherlands in the mid-19th century was characterized by mass-produced violins and a varnish that could hardly be called attractive. However, some violins associated with Lodewijk Roumen differ from these; some feature a beautiful deep yellow varnish, while others were finished with a thin coat of bright orange-yellow varnish.

On his labels, he used only his first two initials, L. W. Roumen, or just his last name: Roumen, violin maker. The label he had printed for his shop read: A Amsterdam, chez L.W. Roumen.

It cannot be said with certainty whether all the instruments associated with the name Lodewijk Roumen were actually built by him, but that is probably not the case. The dimensions, models, and finishes vary too greatly for that. To date, no violin maker is known to have mentioned him as a student. In all the cities where he lived and worked, the archives indicate that his profession was merchant/dealer in musical instruments or bookseller and publisher. In Amsterdam, he did sell German and French violins, but it is not known whether he also sold instruments of his own making.

This means that he likely worked as a violin maker for only a short period of time, and as a dealer for much longer. Nevertheless, a few violins associated with him are quite interesting. These are the three violins that the Musical Instrument Fund also has in its collection. They bear original labels reading “L. W. Roumen violin maker,” with the respective years of construction listed as 1818, 1820, and 1822. Based on this, it is plausible that he moved to Amsterdam not in 1825, as recorded in the archives, but before or around 1818. It is likely that Lodewijk Roumen not only purchased violins from French and German makers but also from skilled Dutch violin makers, affixed his own label to them—a common practice at the time—and resold them. Further research is being conducted on Roumen’s instruments.

It was initially assumed that his son and successor, Joannes Arnoldus, was trained by Lodewijk, but this is doubtful. The influence of several instrument makers from that period is evident in the design of Joannes’ violins. The varnish he used is a deep orange-red. Only three violins by him are known to exist. Joannes Arnoldus continued to run his father’s music store until his death.

Sources

Möller M. ,(1955), The Violin-makers of the Low Countries, Amsterdam.

Edited by Giskes J. and Hooijen E., (2000), 400 Years of Violin Making in the Netherlands, Zutphen.

Vannes, R., (1999), Universal Dictionary of Instrument Makers, Spa.

Edited by the KNTV; (1987), Violin Making in the Netherlands, n.p.

Amati, Makers Archive, accessed in 2019.

Tarisio, The Cozio Archive, accessed in 2019.

Association for the Promotion of the Interests of the Book Trade, Personalia, 1830.

Alphabetical list of books published in the Northern Netherlands from 1790 through 1832.

Register of the Names of All the Merchants ... of the City of Amstelrodanum, 1836.

Overview of the Exhibition of Products of Overijssel Industry and Art in Kampen, 1846, Van Cleef Brothers, The Hague and Amsterdam.

Biographical Dictionary of the Netherlands; biographies of individuals … “who have brought fame to the country.”

Balfoort, D. J., 1931, Dutch Violin Makers, Amsterdam.