Forceville (organ builders)

[1] Joannes Baptista Forceville[2] (1655–1739), sometimes called "father of the Flemish Rococo organ" was born in Saint-Omer, where he was apprenticed to his fellow townsman Francois van Isacker (Veurne, 1633 – Saint-Omer, 1682), he then worked as a travelling organ builder before settling in Antwerp, where he later entered the Guild of Saint Luke.

Jean-Baptiste Forceville is also considered the organ builder who best synthesizes the French and Flemish styles.

[4] The Franco-Flemish style introduced into organ building in Belgium by Forceville persisted there until the end of the 19th century.

In 1734 he restored the organ of the Church of Our Lady of Laeken in association with Egide Le Blas.

He died in 1750 while working on a larger commission in the Basilica of Saint Servatius [de; nl] in Grimbergen.