Charles François Gand

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Charles François Gand (1787–1845) was one of the leading French violin makers of his time. Born in Versailles, he was the son and pupil of Charles Michel Gand. He learned from Nicolas Lupot from 1802 to 1810 and later worked in his father’s workshop. After his father died in 1820, Gand took over the family workshop in Paris, and in 1824 he married Lupot’s adopted daughter, succeeding Lupot as his partner.

Gand’s violins are typical of the French school, many showing Lupot’s influence. They are bold and powerful, with a warm red-brown or orange-brown varnish over a golden ground. He worked with several collaborators, including Bernardel, Georges Chanot, Joseph Germain, and Pierre Silvestre. In 1845 his son Charles Adolphe Gand took over the business. Gand was appointed luthier to the Royal Court and to the Paris Conservatoire. He completed Lupot’s set for the Royal Orchestra, though most were destroyed in the 1871 Tuileries fire. He is remembered as a major French luthier, a rival of Lupot and Vuillaume, especially for instruments based on Stradivari designs.