
Estimating workshop size
with evidence from a few keyboard instrument makers
2025-04-22 by Lance Whitehead
In general, it is very difficult to ascertain the size of a keyboard instrument maker’s business in terms of workhands employed in their workshop. The distinct
lack of wage sheets, daybooks and personal bank accounts means a more convoluted approach is needed.
Firstly, there is some second-hand evidence with regards a handful of makers. In his volume Bemerkungen auf einer Reise von der türkischen Gränze über die Bukowina durch Ost- und Westgalizien, Schlesien und Mähren nach Wien (Vienna, 1804, p.288), for instance, Josef Rohrer noted that Anton Walter (1752–1826) then employed 20 journeymen. Also, according to a promotional piece in The Times (31 January 1788, p.3), first identified by Jenny Nex, Longman and Broderip’s manufactory gave ‘[…] employment to several hundred workmen of different denominations.’ Precisely how this figure was calculated, however, remains uncertain, and it is possible that it included porters, sawyers and administrative clerks as well as a variety of musical instrument makers. It should be noted, too, that Longman and Broderip employed some makers, such as Thomas Culliford, under contract, whilst supplying others with all the necessary materials and paid them only for their workmanship.
For Ferdinand Weber (1715–84), who worked in Dublin from c1749 onwards, there is one reference to his employment of two men: in 1780, he charged Mr [Ignatius] Purcell of Crumlin House £1 2s 9d for ‘[…] taking your Organ down at Crumlin and bringing it to Town by Six Chairmen and one Carr, which with the wages of two of my men came above a Guinea.’
There is more evidence with regards Burkat Shudi’s workforce and it is possible to identify the names of six of his journeymen, including two of Swiss heritage: Hans Balthasar Zopfi (1713–50) and Samuel Blumer (1722–60). Zopfi originated from the same hometown as Shudi, and Blumer’s undated trade card states that he was ‘late Foreman to Mr. Shudi’. The names of four other journeymen are known from an affidavit sworn by three of them on 12 January 1767 and published two days later in the Gazetteer and New Daily Advertiser: Andrew Clark(e), John Broadwood, Thomas Nixon and Joshua Shudi.
In some instances, we can use the number of registered apprentices as a rough guide to workshop size. Stephen Keene (fl.1655–1712), for example, had eight apprentices over his lifetime, while Edward Wright has found evidence that John Player (c1636–1707) trained ten apprentices. In both cases, the number of primary workers seems to correlate with a relatively high number of extant instruments. In contrast, it is likely that lots of harpsichord and virginal makers, including Francis Coston, James Chew, Robert Falkener and Alexander Adam, worked in isolation or with the assistance of a single journeyman. John Richards, for instance, is the only known apprentice of Francis Coston, and it is possible that the name ‘Jack’ written on the wrestplank of the Coston harpsichord (BMO-300) refers to him.
For makers active in Stockholm, however, regular population surveys, tax records, and household lists, as well as parish entry and exit registers provide an unrivalled means of assessing both workshop size and dynamics. Evidence from the 1760 population survey, for example, suggests that both Johan Broman (c1717–72) and Lars Kinström (1710–63) maintained modest workshops: one journeyman is listed with Broman; one journeyman and one apprentice, probably both nephews, are listed with Kinström. In contrast, Carl Jacob Nordqvist (1783–1861) employed up to four journeymen plus an apprentice concurrently, while Georg Christoffer Rackwitz (1760–1844) usually employed two or three journeymen concurrently. This strongly suggests that the two extant clavichords signed by Rackwitz (BMO-1466 and BMO-1467) represent only a tiny proportion of his workshop’s total output.
Perhaps the best evidence survives for Pehr Lindholm (fl.1764–1813): in 1780, he is listed with a single apprentice; by 1790, he had three journeymen and one apprentice; by 1800, the workforce (now run in collaboration with Henric Söderström) had expanded to at least six journeymen; and by 1810, the workshop had fallen back to four. While these figures only relate to personnel listed with Lindholm at kvarter Saturnus no.27 (c1776–98) and subsequently at kvarter Östergötland, Skaraborgsgatan no.68 (c1800–10), it is possible that two or more of his workforce lived in shared accommodation at a nearby address. Since hometowns and dates of birth are sometimes included in the surveys, it is possible to create biographical profiles for several of Lindholm’s workers. Moroever, since wives, daughters, maids and housekeepers are also listed, we have the opportunity of assessing the contributions made by women in the combined workplace/household economy.
Finally, we have architect’s drawings for Lindholm’s premises at Skaraborgsgatan no.68 and for Rackwitz’s premises at kvarter Sporren. Since the premises probably contained both workshops and living accommodation, we have an additional means of assessing the physical size of their respective homes and workspaces.