Revillon Frères (Revillon Brothers) was a French fur and

luxury goods In economics, a luxury good (or upmarket good) is a good for which demand increases more than what is proportional as income rises, so that expenditures on the good become a greater proportion of overall spending. Luxury goods are in contrast to n ...

company, founded in Paris in 1723. Then called ''la Maison Givelet'', it was purchased by Louis-Victor Revillon in 1839 and soon, as Revillon Frères, became the largest fur company in France. Branches were opened in London in 1869 and in New York in 1878. At the end of the 19th century, Revillon had stores in Paris, London, New York City, and Montreal. Through its fur buying bureau in Leipzig, Germany (1876), and an agency in Moscow (1905), the company bought most of its furs from the markets of Moscow, Leipzig and at the annual fairs in Nizhny Novgorod (Gorki) at the

Makaryev Fair Nizhny Novgorod Fair (''old name — Makaryev Fair'') (russian: Нижегородская ярмарка) was a fair in Nizhny Novgorod held annually every July near Makaryev Monastery on the left bank of the Volga River from the mid-16th century ...

and in

Irbit Irbit (russian: Ирби́тStress is given per the ''Dictionary of modern geographical names'', entry o().) is a town in Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia, located from Yekaterinburg by train or by car, on the right bank of the Nitsa. Population: ...

at the

Irbit Fair {{Unreferenced, date=March 2009 The Irbit fair (Russian: Ирби́тская я́рмарка, ''irbitskaya yarmarka'') was the second largest fair in Imperial Russia after the Makariev Fair. It was held annually in winter, trading with tea and f ...

. From 1908-1909 Revillon Frères opened fur trading posts in Siberia, Mongolia and Turkestan. By 1912 Revillon Frères had 125 fur trading posts in America and Siberia. In the 1960s, Revillon acquired Grauer Furs, New York's preeminent fur manufacturing company. Grauer Furs was founded by Austrian immigrant William Grauer and later operated by Grauer's two sons, Abraham and Herman. In 1970, in a deal negotiated by Herman Grauer, Revillon became the fur supplier to

Saks 5th Avenue Saks Fifth Avenue (originally Saks & Company; colloquially Saks) is an American luxury department store chain headquartered in New York City and founded by Andrew Saks. The original store opened in the F Street shopping district of Washington, ...

. This arrangement lasted until 1995. In 1982, Revillon was acquired by hypermarket operator

Cora Cora may refer to: Science * ''Cora'' (fungus), a genus of lichens * ''Cora'' (damselfly), a genus of damselflies * CorA metal ion transporter, a Mg2+ influx system People * Cora (name), a given name and surname * Cora E. (born 1968), German hi ...

, and became its luxury division Cora-Revillon. Subsequently, Cora-Revillon became a separate company, now privately owned, with Revillon as its primary brand. Besides furs, Revillon produces perfume.

Fur trading operation in Canada (1893-1936)

Former_headquarters_of_Revillon_Freres_for_Western_Canada

In 1899 Revillon Frères opened a wholesale warehouse in Edmonton, Alberta and by 1903 had 23 stores across Canada. Owned by Victor Revillon, Revillon Frères eventually set up a network of fur-trading posts in northern Canada in direct competition with the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) composed of an eastern division and a western division. The western division included posts mostly in northern Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. In 1911 the company had 13 posts north and west of

Athabasca Landing Athabasca ( 2021 population 2,759), originally named Athabasca Landing, is a town in northern Alberta, Canada. It is located north of Edmonton at the intersection of Highway 2 and Highway 55, on the banks of the Athabasca River. It is the cen ...

. Having acquired a depot in

Prince Albert Prince Albert most commonly refers to: *Albert, Prince Consort (1819–1861), consort of Queen Victoria *Albert II, Prince of Monaco (born 1958), present head of state of Monaco Prince Albert may also refer to: Royalty * Albert I of Belgium ...

in 1904 they had an additional 10 posts from The Pas to Brochet and Nueltin Lake at the edge of the tundra. The eastern division was in the region of James Bay and

Ungava Bay Ungava Bay (french: baie d'Ungava, ; iu, ᐅᖓᕙ ᑲᖏᖅᓗᒃ/) is a bay in northeastern Canada separating Nunavik (far northern Quebec) from Baffin Island. Although not geographically apparent, it is considered to be a marginal sea of the ...

in the north of Quebec which was served by their own fleet of ships. By 1909, Revillon had forty-eight stores in its Eastern Arctic division while HBC had fifty-two. Many of the Inuit villages in

Nunavik Nunavik (; ; iu, ᓄᓇᕕᒃ) comprises the northern third of the province of Quebec, part of the Nord-du-Québec region and nearly coterminous with Kativik. Covering a land area of north of the 55th parallel, it is the homeland of the I ...

, in northern Quebec, Canada, are located on sites originally occupied by Revillon Frères trading posts. It was incorporated in Canada in 1912 as the ''Revillon Frères Trading Company Ltd.''. In 1926 the Hudson's Bay Company bought 54% of the fur trade company and by 1936 the company was fully owned by the HBC. In 1938 the name was changed to ''Rupert's Land Trading Company''. Revillon Frères financed Robert Flaherty's 1922 film '' Nanook of the North'', filmed near one of their trading posts at

Inukjuak, Quebec Inukjuak ( iu, ᐃᓄᒃᔪᐊᒃ, ''Inujjuaq'' or ''Inukjuaq'' in Latin script, meaning 'The Giant') is a northern village (Inuit community) located on Hudson Bay at the mouth of the Innuksuak River in Nunavik, in the region of northern Queb ...

on northeastern

Hudson Bay Hudson Bay ( crj, text=ᐐᓂᐯᒄ, translit=Wînipekw; crl, text=ᐐᓂᐹᒄ, translit=Wînipâkw; iu, text=ᑲᖏᖅᓱᐊᓗᒃ ᐃᓗᐊ, translit=Kangiqsualuk ilua or iu, text=ᑕᓯᐅᔭᕐᔪᐊᖅ, translit=Tasiujarjuaq; french: b ...

, said to be Canada's first documentary. Ilya Andreyevich Tolstoy, the grandson of count Leo Tolstoy, stayed at the Revillon Frères Post of Windy Lake on Nueltin Lake in the winter of 1928-1929. He was in a group attempting to get film footage of the migrating caribou for the William Douglas Burden and William C. Chanler's production, '' The Silent Enemy'', one of the last and greatest of the silent films, released in 1930. The Glenbow Museum located in Calgary has a collection of over 300 photographs of the Revillon posts, ships and items sold in their stores. Many of the photographs were taken by Samuel Herbert Coward the director of the Revillon Frères Trading Company Ltd. in Canada from 1904 to 1931. There is a Revillon Frères Museum in

Moosonee Moosonee () is a town in northern Ontario, Canada, on the Moose River approximately south of James Bay. It is considered to be "the Gateway to the Arctic" and has Ontario's only saltwater port. Nearby on Moose Factory Island is the community of ...

, Ontario which has been closed for several years.

Revillon Posts in Canada

Western division

* Edmonton, Alberta had a major store and warehouse and was the headquarters and distribution centre for the following posts. * Athabasca Landing, Alberta * Grande Prairie, Alberta * Lesser Slave Lake, Alberta * Spirit River, Alberta *

Sturgeon Lake (Alberta) Sturgeon Lake is a lake in north-western Alberta, Canada. It has a total area of and a maximum depth of . It is located in the hydrographic basin of the Little Smoky River at an elevation of 685 m, 20 km west of the town of Valleyview, along ...

* Peace River Crossing, Alberta *

Peace River, Alberta Peace River, originally named Peace River Crossing and known as in French, is a town in northwest Alberta, Canada. It is along the banks of the Peace River at its confluence with the Smoky River, the Heart River and Pat's Creek. It is approxima ...

* Fort Vermilion, Alberta *Prairie Lake, Alberta *

Keg River, Alberta Keg River is an unincorporated community in northern Alberta, Canada. It is west of Highway 35 (also known as the Mackenzie Highway) approximately midway between Manning to the south and High Level to the north. It has an elevation of . The co ...

*Wabiscond * Trout Lake, Alberta *

Hay River, Northwest Territories Hay River (South Slavey: ''Xátł’odehchee'' ), known as "the Hub of the North," is a town in the Northwest Territories, Canada, located on the south shore of Great Slave Lake, at the mouth of the Hay River. The town is separated into two se ...

Fort St. John, British Columbia Fort St. John is a city located in northeastern British Columbia, Canada. The most populous municipality in the Peace River Regional District, the city encompasses a total area of about with 20,155 residents recorded in the 2016 Census. Located ...

* Prince Albert, Saskatchewan had a major store and was the headquarters for the following posts. * Buffalo River, Saskatchewan see Dillon, Saskatchewan *Clear Lake see Birch Narrows First Nation * Montreal Lake, Saskatchewan * La Ronge, Saskatchewan *

Stanley Mission Stanley Mission ( cr, ᐋᒪᒋᐑᐢᐱᒧᐏᓂᕽ, Amachewespimawin) is a First Nations settlement in the boreal forest northern Saskatchewan, Canada. Its location is on the banks of the Churchill River, northeast of the town of La Ronge, n ...

, Saskatchewan * Île-à-la-Crosse, Saskatchewan * Souris River see

Pinehouse, Saskatchewan Pinehouse is a northern village located in the boreal forest of Saskatchewan on the western shore of Pinehouse Lake within the Canadian Shield. Travelling by road from Pinehouse, the Key Lake mine is 223 km (138 miles) north, Prince Albert ...

Green Lake, Saskatchewan Green Lake is a northern village in Saskatchewan, Canada. Its residents are predominantly Métis people. Green Lake is located northeast of Meadow Lake, and northwest of Big River. It lies in the southern boreal forest, and takes its name from ...

* La Loche, Saskatchewan *

Pelican Narrows, Saskatchewan Pelican Narrows is a northern village in the boreal forest of central Saskatchewan, Canada. Its location is northwest of Creighton by Hanson Lake Road and Highway 135. Its name in Cree is ''Opawikoscikan'' which means "The Narrows ...

* Cumberland House, Saskatchewan *

Pukatawagan, Manitoba Pukatawagan is a First Nations community about north of The Pas in Manitoba. It is part of the Mathias Colomb First Nation. It can be reached by train from The Pas by a branch of the Keewatin Railway Company, a passenger service provided by Via ...

*South Deer Lake at

Southend, Saskatchewan Southend is a community in north-eastern Saskatchewan, Canada located at the southern end of Reindeer Lake, the ninth largest lake in Canada. The community is the terminus of Highway 102 and is 221 km (137 miles) north-east of La Ronge. ...

* The Pas (closed 1923) * Brochet, Manitoba *Windy Lake Nueltin Lake *Casimir (

Kasmere Lake Kasmere Lake is a lake in the northwest corner of Manitoba, near the provincial boundaries with Nunavut and Saskatchewan, Canada. It is drained by the Thlewiaza River. See also * List of lakes of Manitoba This is an incomplete list of lakes ...

)

Eastern division

* Montreal had a major store and was the headquarters and distribution centre for the following posts located on James Bay, Hudson Bay and Labrador (list is incomplete). A fleet of ships, mostly schooners, were purchased to serve these posts. *Kamousitchonan Lake, James Bay area, Quebec * Wakeham Bay, Hudson Straight, Quebec * Fort Chimo, Ungava Bay, Hudson Straight, Quebec *Stratton Island, James Bay, Quebec * Port Harrison, Hudson Bay, Quebec * Fort George, James Bay, Quebec *Cape Dufferin, Quebec * Port Harrison, Quebec *

Nemiscau, Quebec Nemiscau (or Old Nemaska) is a semi-permanent Cree settlement in northern Quebec, Canada, on Lake Nemiscau. During the mid-twentieth century, Thomas Nelson Dodd Jr., PhD, an American professor of chemistry from St. Peter's College in New Jersey ...

* Rupert House, Quebec * Wakeham Bay, Quebec *

Kuujjuarapik, Quebec Kuujjuarapik (also spelled Kuujjuaraapik; iu, ᑰᔾᔪᐊᕌᐱᒃ ''little great river'') is the southernmost northern village (Inuit community) at the mouth of the Great Whale River (french: Grande Rivière de la Baleine) on the coast of ...

Whale River *Veenisk *

Attawapiskat First Nation The Attawapiskat First Nation ( Cree: , "People of the parting of the rocks"; unpointed: ) is an isolated First Nation located in Kenora District in northern Ontario, Canada, at the mouth of the Attawapiskat River on James Bay. The traditional ...

, Ontario * Fort Albany, Ontario * Porcupine City, Ontario * Moose Factory, Ontario Moosonee * Matheson, Ontario * Pagwa River, Ontario *

English River, Ontario English River is an unincorporated place on the border of geographic Corman Township, Kenora District and the Unorganized Part of Thunder Bay District in Northwestern Ontario, Canada. Infobox coordinates are from this reference. It was a Hudson ...

Revillon boats

*''Stord'' steamer *''Violet'' *''Adventure'' steamer 2,500 tons *''Albert Revillon'' three mast schooner *''Jean Revillon'' renamed ''Fort James'' (First ship to circumnavigate North American continent, 1928-29. Owned by Albert and Jean Revillon) *''Emilia'' schooner *''Annie E. Geele'' schooner *''Albany'' power boat

Gallery

File:Revillon Fur-Paletot and Jacket.jpg, Paletots by Revillon Frères at the

Exposition Universelle (1900) The Exposition Universelle of 1900, better known in English as the 1900 Paris Exposition, was a world's fair held in Paris, France, from 14 April to 12 November 1900, to celebrate the achievements of the past century and to accelerate developmen ...

. File:Furs world-fair 1900.jpg, Furs by Revillon Frères File:Irbit - Fur market.jpg, The fur market in Irbit (1900)

References

External links

"Fragments of Lost History" National Film Board of Canada Catalogue Number: NFB519970
{{DEFAULTSORT:Revillon Freres Fur trade Defunct companies of Quebec Hudson's Bay Company