Kirckman, Kirchmann, Kirkman Jacob, *4 March 1710 Bischweiler (near Alsace), funeral 9 June 1792 Greenwich (near London), English builder of harpsichords and pianos. His ancestors came from Switzerland. He came to London at the beginning of the 1730s, changing his surname from Kirchmann to Kirckman, then Kirkman. Initially, he worked in the workshop of the famous Dutch harpsichord builder H. Tabel. Having married Tabel’s widow in 1739, he received English citizenship in 1755. Together with his main competitor, B. Shudi, he dominated the English market; in addition to single- and double-manual winged harpsichords and spinets, he produced experimental instruments (an enharmonic harpsichord from around 1757 designed by R. Smith, celestina – a rubbed keyboard chordophone patented in 1772 in London by A. Walker); like Tschudi, he collaborated with J. Snetzler on the construction of the claviorgan, an instrument combining a harpsichord and an organ. Kirckman built harpsichords with 8’, 8’ or 8’, 8’, 4’ lengths and a lute register; he used dogleg jumpers and pedal levers typical of English instruments to change registers, and sometimes to activate a shutter system that allowed for changing the sound intensity (the so-called Venetian swell, patented in 1769 by Tschudi). His instruments, unlike Tschudi’s harpsichords, have a resonance body decorated with a rosette. In the 1770s, Kirckman’s company began building square pianos and grand pianos. In the 18th century, Kirckman’s harpsichords, like Shudi’s instruments, enjoyed an excellent reputation in Europe. Over 150 harpsichords from Kirckman’s workshop have survived; many of them are described in Boalch’s work. Kirckman’s company was probably the last harpsichord manufacturer in England, and perhaps in the world, before the renaissance of this instrument in the 20th century. Until 1896, under the name Kirkman & Sons, it produced pianos, then it was merged with Collard & Collard and finally taken over by the Chapell company.
Literature: D.H. Boalch Makers of the Harpsichord and Clavichord, 1440–1840, London 1956, revised 2nd edition 1973; R. Russell The Harpsichord and Clavichord, London 1959, revised 2nd edition 1973; E. L. Kottick A History of the Harpsichord, Bloomington 2003; C. Mould, P. Mole and T. Strange Jacob Kirkman, Harpsichord Maker to Her Majesty, Ellesmere 2016.
