1611; his entry reads 'Hans Rukers, sone, claversigmaker'; following this he engraved 'IR' into the rose of his instruments, rather than his father's 'HR'. He worked for the archdukes of the Netherlands in Brussels from 1616. His nephew Joannes Couchet joined his workshop around 1627, taking it over after his death. Around 35 of his instruments are in existence today. Andreas Ruckers I (or Andries) (30 August 1579 – after 1645) was the second son of Hans Ruckers, and likewise became a harpsichord maker based in Antwerp. In 1605 he married; three of his children survived to adulthood. Details of his life are scarce after he sold his share in the family business to his brother Joannes in 1608. He remained a harpsichord maker, was still alive in September 1645 and may have lived ten years or more after that date. His surviving instruments are dated from 1607 to 1644, and are in collections all over the world. Andreas Ruckers II (or Andries) (31 March 1607 – before 1667) was the son of Andreas Ruckers I, from whom he learned his craft. A 1638 entry in the records of the Guild of St Luke that reads, "Rickart, claversingelmaker, wijnmeester" may refer to him. He married Joanna Hechts that year; they had six children, and she died of the plague in 1653. Seven of his instruments, built in the 1640s and 1650s, are known to exist in collections around the world. He was the last of the Ruckers family under that name. See Couchet for another branch of the family. There may have been another Ruckers maker as yet unidentified: two virginals built in the 17th-century Ruckers tradition have similar roses with the initials 'CR'; they were once thought to have been the work of Christoffel Ruckers, a 16th-century organ player living in Dendermonde, but he is now generally excluded as a possible maker. Ruckers harpsichords and virginals Existing virginals made by the Ruckers family are rectangular (one is six-sided) with the keyboard positioned either to the left (spinet) or right (muselar) of centre and a single set of strings running parallel to the long side. Spinetten had their plucking point near the end of the string, while muselaars had a plucking point close to the middle of the string; the difference in sound between the two is easily audible. The pitch of the instrument varied according to its size; the