Griet Jans - co-owner of a shipyard
On this website, historical women from the maritime sector share their stories. This is the story of Griet Jans.
About Griet Jans
- Lived: circa 1560–1653 (presumably)
- Employer: not applicable
- In which maritime sector did she work? Shipbuilding
What kind of work did she do?
It is unclear what she did.
What else can be said about her maritime life?
Jans came from a large shipbuilding family. Her maternal grandfather and two uncles were shipwrights and owned a shipyard on the Lastage, northeast of downtown Amsterdam. Her parents also owned a shipyard on the Lastage, which her mother ran for over 35 years after her father died in 1562. Griet became co-owner of that shipyard after her mother’s death in 1598. Like one of her sisters, Griet Jans married a shipwright, Jan Rijcksen (1560/61–1637). Griet Jans and Jan Rijcksen—who was still using the name Jan Harder at the time—were married on May 18, 1585. Of the children the couple had, three reached adulthood.
Rijcksen became an independent shipbuilder around 1595 and served as master shipbuilder on Rapenburg from 1608 to 1637. Furthermore, from 1620 to 1637, he served as master shipwright for the VOC (including as master shipbuilder of the Batavia). He owned his own shipyard and dry dock certainly as early as 1595 (and possibly earlier). He was also one of the first shareholders of the VOC. The couple was very wealthy. In 1631, he was the highest-taxed resident on Rapenburg, and the couple had their portrait painted by Rembrandt in 1633. She was about 73 years old at the time. Although no evidence has been found in the archives of her involvement in shipbuilding, this painting is, in a sense, proof of that. It can indeed be interpreted as a shipbuilding couple at work.
*In the exhibition
“The Shipbuilder and His Wife” is one of the titles given to this famous painting by Rembrandt. The shipbuilder is Jan Rijcksen (1560/2–1637), who rose from shipbuilder to master shipbuilder and master shipwright at the Dutch East India Company (VOC). He was also a shareholder in the VOC. His wife was Griet Jans. Given how deeply she was involved in shipbuilding, wouldn’t the title “Shipbuilding Couple at Work” be more appropriate?
Painting by Rembrandt, 1633. Royal Collections (Buckingham Palace)
Map of Amsterdam, with the Lastage—where the shipyards were located—in the lower left corner, from the publication Description de tous les Pays-Bas, autrement appelés la Germanie Inférieure ou Basse Allemagne […], 1582. Maritime Museum