Aimé Besson

Aimé Besson began his own pipe workshop in Saint-Claude, France in 1878. He specialized in figural pipes reproducing sculptures, and worked in briar. His pipes were sold by his son George Besson, who moved to Paris in 1904 to sell them and eventually counted some of the world's finest tobacconists among his clients while becoming a figure of great renown in the art world as a critic and collector as well. His collection was exhibited in the Louvre itself in 1964 and 1965. George Besson died in 1971, leaving his art collection to the French government.