Phelippon Tobacco
Géricault Life
We present here the first discussion of Étienne Phelippon and his Tobacco Manufactory at Gros Caillou based on archival sources.*
Arrêté permitting M. Phelippon, entrepreneur de tabacs to use 50-60 prisoners of war in his tobacco manufactory at Gros Caillou – An 3 germinal 12 (April 2, 1795.) Image courtesy: Archives Nationales (France) AF/II/230, dossier 1987, doc. 13.
Phelippon and Company – 1792
The Phelippon tobacco firm at Gros Caillou is an important part of our study of Théodore Géricault for several reasons. Documents detailing the operations of the Phelippon concern at Gros Caillou and the Robillard (Géricault) tobacco concern at the Hôtel de Longueville are scarce. Gaps in our understanding of the Robillard firm can be partially filled by examining the actions of Phelippon and his partners. Both companies were substantial and situated near each other on opposite sides of the Seine. The Gros Caillou manufactory was situated near the Quai d’Orsay, close to the Géricault family home on the rue de l’Université in Paris. Both were created by former administrators of the royal tobacco monopoly. Both companies underwent significant, but different, changes after August 10th, 1792. Finally, our discussion of the Phelippon tobacco firm at Gros Caillou helps draw our attention towards the Champs du Mars nearby, where Théodore watched horse races and other events once in Paris.
We do not possess the original act de sociéte which would allow us to definitively date the formation of the Phelippon tobacco concern. However, we do have documents which allow us to date the formation of Phelippon and Company as June 16th, 1792, at the latest. We can also identify the partners in the original Phelippon firm. The vast majority of these individuals were quite different in terms of class and background from those we believe founded the Robillard firm in 1791.
At least half of the known partners in the original Robillard tobacco firm did not hold lucrative senior government positions prior to the formation of the Robillard tobacco society. Jacques Florent Robillard, Pierre Antoine Robillard and Augustin François Monneron (who may or may not have been a partner) were employed by the tobacco monopoly because of their knowledge and expertise in tobacco manufacturing. Charles Biancourt and Jean Baptiste Caruel were lawyers. The four other known partners: the Chapelain brothers, Alexandre Pierre Le Riche-Vandy, and Étienne Carvoisin were directly or indirectly connected with the royal tax farmers.
In the case of the Phelippon tobacco concern the opposite seems to have been true. Étienne Charles François Phelippon had served as the Directeur général des approvisionnements du tabac à la ferme générale. Phelippon was in charge of the supply chain of the royal tobacco monopoly, an organisation which employed ten thousand workers. His associate Jacques François Fleury also had some direct experience managing the production and sale of tobacco. As partners, both Phelippon and Fleury had experience in the tobacco trade, but primarily as administrators. Most of the other ten Phelippon partners were investors with long experience exploiting positions of privilege in the royal administration.
Five of the partners in the first Phelippon firm were members of the powerful Parseval family: M. Charles René Parseval de Frileuse régisseur national des Douanes; his brother M. Alexandre Philibert Pierre Parseval cidevant fermier général; their brother in-law M. Denis Henry Fabus de Vernan also régisseur national des Douanes; and M. François Marie Parseval, ancien commissaire des guerres. M. André René Philibert Parseval, captain of infantry, benefited from his family name.
The Parsevals were joined by three individuals of similar rank and qualification: M. Claude Antoine Métais, cidevant souschef à la ferme générale; M. Jean François Didelot** commissaire du Roi pour la liquidation de la Regie générale; and his son M. François Charles Didelot** cidevant Régisseur général. M. Louis George Gougenot was also a partner, but his occupation is unclear. Finally we have their procureur générale et spécial M. Guillaume Jacques André France de Croissee, a partner and payeur de rentes de l’hôtel de ville.
These twelve individuals formed the partnership which would be known as la Société formée pour l’entreprise de la manufacture de tabac établie à Paris au Gros Caillou sous la raison de Phelippon et compagnie, or Phelippon and Company for short. At least three died during the Terror. We will discuss these events and other related matters in subsequent issues.
*As part of our preparations for this article for our August 2019 issue we searched again for any study of the original Phelippon company in academic journals and online. We found scattered mentions of Phelippon and Gros Caillou in almanachs and other texts, but no mention of any comprehensive studies of the original Phelippon firm based on archival sources. Obviously, we would be delighted to learn of any such work.
** We initially presented the name Didelot as Didelos. After reviewing additional documents we feel much more comfortable with Didelot. We apologize for not clarifying this earlier. (Corrected Aug. 3, 2019)