THE STRANGE CASE OF THETHOMASSINS

The bowmaking history, especially the French one , is characterized by the presence of families who handed down the job from father to son , they changed shape from creaftmen into small companies, which solidified remaining on the market for more than a century as the Bazins. Well, even if the Thomassins were three of them and they all came from the same family strain, their work development is very special.

Violin bow in ebony and gold Claude Auguste Thomassin

The first thing to note in this family, is that it is composed of fathers and sons. The Thomassins, Louis Joseph, Victor, and Claude Auguste, were in fact cousins. The second one is that, except for Victor, son of Nicolas Joseph Francois, luthier, none of the other two had any contact with the world of bows.

The first to approach the job was Louis Joseph, Joseph Thomassin's son , a saddler, and Marianne Poirot.

Born in Mirecourt on June 13, 1856, the tradition would have seen him to build saddles for horses as his father, but probably due to the proximity of his uncle, Louis Joseph, he chooses another path and when he was very young, we already find him in Francois Xavier Bazin's workshop , trained by this latter's son Charles Nicolas, eight years older .

In 1871 he moves to Paris to work with the bowmaking God of that period F.N.Voirin. With him he improves both style and technique, and when Voirin dies in 1885, he stays in touch with the widow for several years , going on to build bows in the style of her husband. You will remember the famous "Voirin de la Veuve".

In 1891 he opened his own business in Paris and, until his death occurred after 1904, he will continue to build as per the style of his Master.

Violin bow in ebony and silver Claude Auguste Thomassin

On April 14, 1859, as already told, son of Nicolas Francois Joseph , luthier, and Marguerite Charlotte Elisabeth Macoutel , Victor, aka  "T. VICTOR" is born and he is the second bowmaker of the family.

Like his cousin, he begins his apprenticeship in the Bazin's workshop, now in the hands of the young Charles Nicolas, and he remains there until the early nineties.

Between '95 and 1900, when he will leave for England, there are some of his tracks in Paris, even if we do not know about any bows built in this period.

After '900 he settles in London working for several brands ,but after the first period when they try to exploit the popularity of his name, they allowed him to mark the bows under the nickname "T. Victor".

After 1920 we lose track of him, therefore it is assumed that he died in London at this time. Its production was not a huge one but had a good level.

Violin bow in ebony and silver Claude Auguste Thomassin

Claude Auguste, the best known and youngest of the three, was born in Mirecourt on August 7, 1865, by another saddler, Theophile and Auguste Joséphine Bellaire.
He too was more attracted by the cousins' work than saddles, and like the others, he begins in Charles Nicolas Bazin's workshop.

When he was about twenty years , as was customary at the time, after having learned the rudiments, he moves to Paris finding a first job by GAND & BERNADEL. In this period he has two kinds of influences, the first one by some German craftsmen who hanged out in the city, the second one , obviously, by the dominant school of the time, that one of  F.N. Voirin.

He remains with GAND & BERNARDEL until the laboratory is taken over by CARESSA & FRANCAIS in 1901, in this year he opens his own business at 37, Rue Paradis in Paris.
In the following years he will build a large number of bows, going on to follow the stylistic / mechanical guidelines of Voirin's school and training excellent craftsmen.

At the time of his death on July 29, 1942 in Tribaldou (Seine-et-Marne), his tools and wood were purchased by his friend, the luthier Fernand Billottet. Part of the wood came later in the hands of Bernard Millant.

As I said at the beginning of the article , a trasversal dynasty in a sense, who built a large number of very good bows, but nevertheless they remain in the shadow for various reasons, not least the fact that they have built many bows but just very few of them were stamped with their own name.

Louis Joseph Thomassin worked for :

Nestor AUDINOT, Paul BLANCHARD, CHANOT & CHARDON, GAND & BERNALDEL, GAND & BERNALDEL Frère, Hippolyte Chrétien SILVESTRE, Francois Nicolas VOIRIN

Claude Auguste Thomassin worked for :

John e Arthur BEARE, Gustave BERNARDEL, Léon BERNARDEL, CARESSA & FRANCAIS, GAND & BERNARDEL, GAND & BERNARDEL Frère, Alfred JACQUOT, Paul JOMBAR, Emile LAURENT, Emile LHUMBERT, Paul SERDET, Hippolyte Chrétien SILVESTRE, A. VIDOUDEZ

So long.

Paolo