Canson
 |
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| Private | |
| Industry | Paper |
| Founded | 1557 ("Canson" name first used in 1801) |
| Founder | Jacquese Montgolfier |
| Headquarters | Annonay, France |
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Area served
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Europe, Americas, Asia, Australia |
| Products | Fine art papers, school drawing papers, Digital Fine Art and Photography papers |
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Number of employees
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450 |
| Parent | F.I.L.A. - Fabbrica Italiana Lapis ed Affini S.p.A. |
| Website | www.canson.com |
Canson is a French manufacturer of fine art paper and related products.
The story goes that Jean Montgolfier was taken prisoner by the Turks during the Crusades and was compelled to work in a paper mill in Damascus. There he learned how to produce paper, and he brought the knowledge back to Europe when he regained his freedom.
In 1485, Antoine Vidalon created a cereal mill. The Vidalon Paper Mills (Vidalon-le-Haut and Vidalon-le-Bas) were most probably created in the sixteenth century on the river Deûme in Davézieux parish near Annonay, France from the cereal mill that was transformed. Born in the region of Beaujolais, the Vidalon family were friends with Jean Montgolfier, who was also a papermaker in the Réveillon mill. Jean sent his two sons, Raymond and Michel, to Vidalon, so they could improve their knowledge. In 1693, Raymond and Michel Montgolfier married the daughters of Antoine Chelles, the owner of the paper mills. The Montgolfier family subsequently ran the mills.
Pierre Montgolfier (1700–1793), son of Raymond, was a brilliant manufacturer that aimed in modernizing the profession. Thanks to him, Vidalon mills grew up rapidly. For instance, he developed the Dutch beaters to replace the mallet troughs. One of his 16 children, Joseph Montgolfier was a brilliant inventor. He developed the Bleu de Prusse colour and a new device to raise water ... With his brother Etienne Montgolfier, he created the first hot air balloon, the montgolfière. They used their own paper to make the envelope and they engineered a heating system to inflate it. The first flight took place in Vidalon on December 14, 1782. A memorial still exists in the former paper mill’s courtyard, nearby the native house of the Montgolfier brothers and the current Papeteries Canson & Montgolfier museum. Their mark is visible in the logo, it consists of a stylized hot air balloon - a reference to the Montgolfier brothers, Joseph-Michel and Jacques-Étienne, pioneers of the hot air balloon. In 1783, [Louis XVI ennobled Pierre Montgolfier and his family, both on account of the aerostatic invention and on that of the strides that they have spurred in the papermaking industry. In 1784, the paper mills were granted the name "Manufacture Royale".
One of the daughters of (Jacques-)Etienne Montgolfier, Alexandrine, married Barthélémy de Canson who ran the mills after Etienne's death in 1799. In 1801, the company became "Montgolfier et Canson", then "Canson-Montgolfier" in 1807. Barthélémy de Canson made the paper mill grow and developed many new processes: mass dying, the continuous paper machine, the suction boxes, mass sizing... He has also invented the tracing paper in 1807 thanks to high refining of the paper pulp. He installed the first Robert machine around 1820. In 1853, Canson invented a medium for positive and negative prints. He perfected it and was granted numerous patents in France and abroad. This paper cut out the need to use platinum or gold chloride, so was easier and cheaper to use. In 1860, the Montgolfier papermills were the largest in France. The company was registered as "Societe Anonyme" under the name "Anciennes manufactures Canson & Montgolfier" in 1881.
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Wikipedia