| Summary: | A major discovery in the Gironde department, the Bellion collection of a coach-building family. In 1874, Louis Bellion settled in Libourne and established his coach-builder’s firm. The collection that this firm has left today tells the story of a family deeply attached to its past and to its profession. The firm has kept all its archives and equipment from the creation of the works up to the present day. It is one of the most complete collections in the Gironde, comprising not only the family archives but also its forge with all its tools. A preliminary study of this collection which is destined to become part of the museum of horse-drawn vehicles at Bourg, in the Gironde, allows for a better understanding of the social and professional aspects of this coach-builder’s family in Libourne, during a period which saw the progressive replacement of horse-drawn vehicles by motor cars. It is a collection of ethnographic interest that also gives documentation about some of the vehicles held at the museum of the horse-drawn carriage as well as at the national museum of carriages and tourism, in Compiègne.
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