Visiting Card of the Woodwind Instrument Maker Coenraad Rijkel, Ignatius Lux, c. 1700
engraving, h 235mm × w 285mm More details
The oboe originated in 17th-century France. Dutch instrument makers immediately started making copies of these first French exemplars. In Amsterdam, Richard Haka started producing French hautbois (a name corrupted to oboe) already around 1680. Moreover, he founded a school with at least ten other makers, including his nephew Coenraad Rijkel. This is Rijkel’s visiting card. Most of the surviving oboes by Haka and Rijkel are now in the Rijksmuseum.