THE HUSSONS !Before beginning to talk about one of the first "craftsmen families", I express my thanks to the "Scuola di Musica di Fiesole" which hosted the conference dedicated to the bows and to Dr. Adriana Verchiani who kindly invited me . Furthermore, since one thing leads to another one, I held another one at the "Conservatory Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina" in Cagliari. So I thank also the director of the institute, Prof. Maria Gabriella Artizzu for the hospitality and his friend Francesco Pilia for the kindness, resourcefulness, and curiosity!
Violin bow by Charles Claude Husson We reached 1870 and, as you can see from the picture that represents a not so sublime C.C, Husson's bow, we are close to the end of the legendary Jean Baptiste Vuillaume and his laboratory , a real core of French bowmaking. As mentioned above, in the second half of the nineteenth century, craftsmen become managers, and the bows, obeying the law of the market that judges a company by its turnover, they pass from being "quite individual creations" (cited Raffin), to standardized products. These are the years of the coming of "families", such as the Hussons, for example. Six bowmakers and two violin makers, spread over three generations. The first one , Claude Charles Nicolas , called " Husson Père ", was born in Mirecourt in 1823 and started working in one of the laboratories of the city which ,obviously, in those years was following the Peccatte's school. In '57, after his first wife's death, he marries again with Jeanne Louise Collin, widow of Pierre Dominique Vigneron, mother of Joseph Arthur Vigneron. He will become bowmaker as well and will assist him until his death on October 21, 1872 at forty-nine years only . Claude Charles Nicolas Husson's work , of good quality although not excellent, is almost totally inspired by Peccatte's school, but the most important contribution that this artisan has given to our job, is surely to be found in the training of new bowmakers. His son Charles Claude, his stepson Joseph Arthur Vigneron père, Joseph Alfred Lamy père, who will build the famous Parisian school of the late nineteenth century. His brother Pierre, a little younger than him, was born August 22, 1830 and begins his apprenticeship at a young age, always at Mirecourt. In his early years of activity he works with his brother. After the death of the latter, he will start stamping his bows under the brand name "Husson Dufour à Paris" to differentiate from the rest of the family. His work is very close to that one of his nephew. He dies on March 29, 1912 in Mirecourt. And here finally we come to our Claude Charles Husson. Son of the former and grandson of the latter of the second, he was born in Mirecourt on December 31, 1846, an, d at an early age, he begins to attend his father's workshop, almost simultaneously with his stepbrother , J.A. Vigneron, five years younger than him. In '70 he moves to Paris to study at Vuillaume's workshop , where he remains until the death of this latter, occurred in 1875. Furthermore he studies with Lamy père and in 1875 he works with Francois Nicolas Voirin for some time, before starting by Gand & Bernardel and, like all the workers of this brand name, he will build Voirin-style bows. In 1880 he definitely settles in Paris and opens his own business, from this point on his style will be very close to that one of Vigneron père. He worked for many major brands such as: N. Audinot à Paris, Mézin-Collin à à Paris, Gand et Bernardel Frères, Gauthier à Toulouse, Joseph Hell à Lille, Jomba Paul à Paris , E. Marchand à Paris, Maucotel et Deschamp à Paris. He will ontinue to work until 1915 and the date of his death is not known. Definitely the best of the family, though not lofty, but he built good bows. So long Paolo
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