Peter IV Vanden Gheyn

Peter Vanden Gheyn was a bellfounder of the Spanish Netherlands.

Life

Peter was born into a famous family of bellfounders and himself became the most famous bellfounder of the 17th century. His father was Jan III Vanden Gheyn. The family forge was at Mechelen in what is now Belgium. His associate was named Peter Deklerk or de Clerck, his uncle by marriage.
His total production of bells was not great. He cast the Salvator bell for in Mechelen in 1638, which weighed and cracked in 1696. He also cast the Salvator bell for in Brussels.
He had the curious affectation of inscribing his bells using type of various sizes within the same word.