Heritage brochure - Musical instruments museum

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Š E. Mercier

the musical instruments museum,

or art nouveau at the heart of brussels

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enesis

The view would be incomplete without this majestic and unique building that stands out with its distinctive black facade ... Although the «Old England» building with its art nouveau style is often associated with the museum itself, the site is actually much more sprawling. The museum complex is made up of three buildings of different origins: the neoclassical townhouse overlooking the Place Royale, the metal Saintenoy building and a more recent building on the rue Villa Hermosa. © coll. J. Lemercier

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rchitecture and adornment

A flagship of the Brussels’ art nouveau movement, the «Old England», as it is still called today, is nevertheless the creation of an architect who was not an art nouveau specialist. A structure in glass and metal, it differs from its neighbours on the Place Royale with its curves, its colours and plant-inspired decor. The corner turret and glass canopy (or «Marquise») facade elements are also very striking.

Taking a step back, a little lower we see the former headquarters of the Charles Delacre pharmacy, which focused its activities on the supposed fortifying virtues of chocolate. The wide building was constructed according to the plans of a certain Saintenoy, around the same time as the «Old England» but this time in an eclectic style (mixture of neo-Gothic and neo-renaissance), most probably in a deliberate attempt to revert to a more “retro” effect and in an effort to retain a certain harmony with the neighbouring houses, such as the Ravenstein mansion.

During the 20th century, to save on maintenance costs and due to a misunderstanding of art nouveau, the ironwork and corner turret – allegedly on the verge of collapse - were dismantled, and the building was painted white. It was to return to its original appearance after its acquisition by the State when such things as the ironwork and the turret were fully redesigned and rebuilt from a careful examination of historical photos.

The headquarters of the current MIM still take up part of the architectural unit of the Place Royale, a neoclassical space designed at the end of the 18th century following the fire that struck the palace of the Dukes of Brabant in 1731.

The neoclassical pavilion of interest to us, at the corner of the square and of the rue Montagne de la Cour, was built in 1776-1777 for the Comte de Spangen, «the Chamberlain – the officer in charge of room service, that is to say of domestic life – of their Imperial and Royal Majesties”. It was later divided into several parts, and then, with the exception of the façade on the Place Royale, completely demolished in 1913 to make the building more functional.

The «Old England» stores were already well established in Europe. The beginning of the «Old England» adventure in Brussels was in 1886, on the initiative of a gentleman-adventurer, James Reid, a Scottish trader, who started a luxury clothing and fabric store, also selling a range of food specialties in a part of the Hotel de Spangen. The store’s success led it to gradually expand into the inside of the block, between rue Montagne de la Cour, rue Villa Hermosa and the Place Royale. This resulted in the construction, between 1898 and 1900, of the beautiful 6-storey building in wrought iron and glass that stands before you, designed by architects Paul Saintenoy and Jules De Becker.

The concept of a museum dedicated to music and instruments did not wait for the «Old England» to emerge.

Born in 1877 and housed at that time in the attic of the Conservatory on nearby rue de la Régence, the «instrumental museum» then moved to various buildings around the Petit Sablon, but none was really suited to its functions.

Reproduite avec l’aimable autorisation du bureau d’architecture Gus © E. Mercier

Note that the transition with the pavilion on the place Royale is surprisingly ensured by the blue stone cladding of the party wall, topped by an obelisk.

The original colour of the metal parts of the facade, a very dark brown-green, makes the building stand out from the light neoclassical paintwork of the Place Royale: a business strategy no doubt, but also a desire to emphasise the plant inspiration of the ornamentation.

The interior decoration of the ground floor uses thistle motifs, the symbol of Scotland and country of origin of the creator of the store. The stairwell and elevator carry the theme of the horse chestnut.

The Art Nouveau building was listed in 1989.

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wists and turns The Art Nouveau building was built at the request of Josse Goffin, owner of the respective plots of land, Mayor of Berchem-SainteAgathe, but especially president and principal shareholder of Forges de Clabecq: it is hard to miss the advertising and promotional design... However the construction was well intended for commercial use. The major extensions of the commercial buildings made it possible to diversify the departments: clothing for men, women, boys, girls and children, food - especially of English origin, but not only -, perfumery, haberdashery, stationery, watches, toys, travel articles, sports and garden.

«Karlsbad hams for sale at Old England» Le Soir, 1901.

Very early on, the store could boast of its position as a hub of the fashion industry: «Attention all lady cyclists. The latest craze in Paris are the culottes from John Sendt and Laborde, who is making the final touches. Old England Brussels has obtained from the inventors, patented in Belgium, the exclusive right to do so according to their models. The information and prints for these culottes are sent on request» Le Soir, 2 March 1896.

While the fifth floor was occupied by sewing workshops and a 200-seat concert hall, it was already at the time fashionable to see and be seen on the wonderful roof terrace: «The best view in Brussels can be enjoyed from the Tea Terrace of Old England» Le Soir, 4 May 1900. Following the fire in the store «A l’Innovation» in 1967, new regulations were introduced to protect against fire. The owner, who was unable to take on this extensive work, decided to leave a few years later.

© E. Mercier

In 1974 the store moved to Avenue Louise. The chain closed its doors in 2004. As for the beautiful building, it was acquired by the Department of Education in 1979 before falling into the hands of the Building Authority for the installation of the MIM, established within it since 2000.

The recent annex on rue Villa Hermosa houses the museum’s reserves.

A study of the internal organisation of the museum reveals that «Old England» is the portion allocated to the flow of visitors, a sort of backbone of © E. Mercier the museum. This choice was dictated by the requirements imposed on this type of institution: mainly in respect of temperature and fire resistance. The collections are stored safely in other parts of the museum. The Art Nouveau building has therefore not undergone significant changes, and so looks very much the way it would have done when first built.

www.visit.brussels copyright: Archives de la Ville de Bruxelles

© E. Mercier