Maria van Lommen

Maria van Lommen (born January 15, 1688 in Utrecht , † August 14, 1742 ibid) was a Dutch businesswoman and owner of a gold and silversmith's workshop in Utrecht.

Life

Maria van Lommen was born as the first of twelve children of the silversmith Cornelis van Lommen (1656-1715) and his wife Cornelia Enligt Merck (1667-1724), who saw the light of day in Utrecht between 1688 and 1710 and were all baptized in the Old Catholic Church. From 1715 - with the death of Maria's father - all members of this family were buried in the Reformed Buurkerk . They may have joined the Protestant faith. Her father had been a silversmith since 1680. The family lived on the Neude, on the western corner of the Schoutenstraat, in the Het Galinth building. There was also the workshop and a silver shop. Two of Maria's brothers also became silversmiths: Johannes (1694–1729) in Utrecht and Cornelis (born 1695) in Amsterdam .

In 1712, Maria's father successfully entered the office of tenure master (city auction master), which was always awarded for six years. During this time, the incumbent was not allowed to run his own business according to city regulations. When he took the oath in his new position, Cornelis van Lommen asked if he could leave the silversmiths to his daughter. Maria van Lommen managed the business at the age of 24.

Judging from Maria's investments in real estate throughout her life, the business was profitable. She probably learned business from her mother. In documents from 1713 and 1714, Maria van Lommen and Cornelia Ondermerck appeared as real business women. In a letter to the city council, Adrianus Croes, the Erfhuis's secretary , complained about “ joffer en vrou Lommen ” (German: “Jungfer und Frau Lommen”): They took out the best pieces (with the highest silver content) before the auction and left their price to their people to put in the auction book. Or they offered so much silver that other silversmiths had to get out.

After Cornelis van Lommen died on May 27, 1715, Maria and her brother Johannes, who became a master craftsman in 1716, continued the gold and silversmiths. Maria's mother was allowed to continue her husband's office as a widow. She was re-elected in 1718 and remained in this office until shortly before her death in 1724.

In 1726 Maria van Lommen made her first will, in which she, as an “old lady” (unmarried woman), decreed to continue the silversmiths and goldsmiths. In this will she gave her younger siblings, especially the three youngest siblings, legacies, while her brother Johannes was to inherit the goldsmith "with all the silver and gold" and also the "little things and other professions". One can deduce from this that brother and sister owned the company together. However, Johannes died on September 12, 1729 without descendants; in August of the same year he had made his will.

In order to be able to continue the business without her brother, Maria van Lommen had to join the guild of gold and silversmiths and was listed in the master book in 1730 as a “member for half the money”. In the years that followed, she did well economically and regularly invested in real estate in the city. In the last years of her life she lived in the Hoge Jacobijnestraat, where she died on August 14, 1742. From this address she was buried in the Buurkerk. Her coffin was carried by eight porters.

Services

Maria van Lommen is known in many archives as a capable businesswoman, but also as the head of a large family with branches in Utrecht and Amsterdam. It is remarkable that so many documents have been kept about the Maria van Lommen company. She is an example of all those unknown women who have contributed to the economy of the city of Utrecht.

Web links

• Louise E. van den Bergh-Hoogterp: Lommen, Maria van (1688-1742). In: Digitaal Vrouwenlexicon van Nederland. Huygens ING en OGC (UU), January 13, 2014, accessed April 29, 2018 (Dutch).