Large Box Signed Alphonse Giroux, Decorated With Hunting Scenes, Napoleon III Period

Large blackened wood box signed Alphonse Giroux, adorned with gilt bronze, decorated with hunting scenes in silvered bronze and a porcelain medallion also bearing a hunting scene and a signature. The interior is lined with quilted silk (slightly worn) and contains two very fine crystal bottles decorated with gilt bronze and mother-of-pearl. Napoleon III period. François-Simon-Alphonse Giroux, born April 6, 1776, in Paris[1] and died in the same city on April 24, 1848[1], was a French painter, cabinetmaker, and furniture maker. Biography: "Golden Carriage of the Children of France" by Alphonse Giroux, presented by Louis XVIII to the children of the Duke of Orléans. Paris, Carnavalet Museum. Alphonse Giroux initially pursued a career as a painter under the tutelage of Jacques-Louis David, but he abandoned his brushes for a career as a dealer in paintings, furniture, and objets d'art. From 1799 to 1848, he operated his business at 7 rue du Coq-Saint-Honoré in Paris. Under the name A. GIROUX in PARIS, his shop became a renowned store specializing in small decorative objects and cabinetmaking, its business flourishing from the Consulate period to the end of the Second Empire, first run by father and then by son. The cabinetmaking workshop began in 1799; the father died in 1848, and his two sons succeeded him in managing the workshops and the store. Their specialty was the production of very high-end small furniture for the bourgeoisie and nobility. It was at Giroux's shop that Charles X and Louis XVIII chose the New Year's gifts for the young princes: Princess Louise and the Duke of Bordeaux. Alphonse Giroux won numerous national and international prizes, including a silver medal at the 1834 Exhibition, for leather goods actually made by Joseph Thouvenin, such as the Master Muse's napkin, and became, in the second half of the 19th century, a true benchmark for boxes, various and sundry cases, and small decorative or writing furniture. One of his sons, Alphonse-Gustave, continued the business. Another, André Giroux, took up the painting trade his father had abandoned. On June 22, 1839, Louis Daguerre and Isidore Niépce[2] signed a contract with Alphonse Giroux and the Susse Frères company, granting them exclusive rights to manufacture and sell the daguerreotype camera[3]. In December 1839, François Fauvel-Gouraud toured the United States with a Giroux apparatus and introduced the process to New Yorkers and then Bostonians. Alphonse Giroux is buried in Père-Lachaise Cemetery (26th division)[4]. DELIVERY ONLY PARIS ILE DE FRANCE FOR 65.00 EUROS. For other shipping options, please provide your postal code and city so I can request a quote from the carriers.