Caressa & Français Firm

Bow maker / Violin maker
(1901 – 1920)

Albert Caressa and Henri Français began as junior partners in the historic Gand & Bernardel firm, taking it over under their own name when Gustave Bernardel retired in 1901. Henri ...Read More Français's own retirement in 1920 saw the business briefly continue as simply Albert Caressa before passing, after Caressa's own retirement, to Français's son Émile, who ran it on as Émile Français. Through the 1910s–30s the firm employed a number of notable bow- and violin-making outworkers passing through Paris, among them André Chevrier, André Paul Dugad (1920–32, before he set up independently), and Eugène Perrard. Read Less