(Image below: Breda in 1729. Pen drawing by Cornelis Pronk from the Breda city archive.)

Adriaen van Bommel started the family business in 1718. Six years later, his brother Christiaen joined the Breda shoemakers' guild. The archives of the shoemakers' guild do not mention in which shoemaking workshop the brothers worked. However, all points to them having run a shoemaking shop together. According to the archives, Adriaen and Christiaen worked with the same apprentice shoemakers and in 1734, after the death of their father, they took out a mortgage on the parental house together.

The archives of the shoemakers' guild also reveal that the brothers were regularly behind on their payment of guild fees. From this we can infer that business was not going so well. This assumption is confirmed by brother Christiaen’s unexpected career move. In 1744, at the age of 40, he entered military service. For a craftsman of his age, this was an unusual step. However, it seems that the financial security the army offered outweighed the risks of the battlefield and leaving home. Christiaen completed his military service under General Dibbits in Maastricht, where he fought in the Battle of Lauffeld in 1747.

(Image above: Marshal Maurice of Saxony's army at the battle of Lauffeld. Christiaen van Bommel served in this army and fought in the battle of Maastricht. A painting by Pierre L’enfant from the 18th century.)