Alphonse Giroux Two Louis XVI Frames In Gilt Bronze For Miniature

two louis xvi style frames in gilded bronze for photo or miniature size 10cm x 7 cm for the first and 9 cm x 6.5 cm for the second stamp from the house of Alphonse Giroux in Paris delivery 15 euros La Maison Alphonse Giroux, "the merchant of princes ”, is a major Parisian manufacturer of luxury furniture and accessories, whose products were intended for an aristocratic and bourgeois clientele, installed in 1799 at No. 7, rue du Coq Saint-Honoré, then Boulevard des Capucines. Founded by François-Simon-Alphonse Giroux under the name "A. GIROUX à PARIS", it was taken over by the Giroux children and remained active under the name of "Alphonse Giroux et Cie" until 1867, when the management is taken over by Ferdinand Duvinage. The store founded by Giroux father often changes descriptions in the directory, and we can guess a very diversified activity. Specializing in paper and artistic supplies, he is also a restorer of paintings and offers fancy and writing objects: we sell writing cases, inkwells, and also toys. Indeed, on June 6, 1818, he deposits the patent of the kaleidoscope which he also calls the "transfigurator". This new toy is all the rage and Alphonse Giroux thus attracts a clientele in demand of luxury gifts. The store thus knew success from the Consulate, so much so that at the Restoration it was already important. Thus, Louis XVIII asked Alphonse Giroux to make the gifts for the children of France: a gold coach kept at the Carnavalet museum. The mother-of-pearl horses are harnessed in gold, and the carriage is decorated with emeralds and glazed in rock crystal. Moving towards the tableting and cabinet making around 1830, the store continues to supply, among other things, beautiful objects that can be offered to children and ladies: toys, sewing kits, work tables, boxes and mirrors. The aesthetics of Alphonse Giroux's fabrications often take their inspiration from 18th century styles, but it is far from only repeating past models. They are indeed creations sometimes imprinted with the Troubadour style, but which will also be seduced by Japonism in the second half of the century. The furniture and accessories of Alphonse Giroux can thus vary in inspirations, real artistic creations of their authors, but they are always of perfect luxury. This is the case of the happiness of the day presented at the Universal Exhibition of 1855, which seduced the Empress Eugenie. This impressive piece of carved lime tree furniture seems to be covered with climbing plants, which invade the space and give it the air of being escaped from a tale. Today it is kept at the Château de Compiègne. Anxious to offer the best to its customers, the store remains at the cutting edge of progress. Thus, in decorative arts, he joined forces with Julien-Nicolas Rivart to create furniture inlaid with porcelain, which remain unique examples of this process. Interested in optics, Giroux father is not only the inventor of the kaleidoscope but also the exclusive depositary of the daguerreotype, in collaboration with the Maison Susse. Daguerre and Niépce granted him in 1839 the exploitation of the process, so that the very first daguerreotypes, ancestors of cameras, were stamped Alphonse Giroux, as well as the first photo papers supplied by the store. The house Alphonse Giroux is sold in 1867 to Duvinage, cousin of Alphonse Giroux son, and will be managed by the widow Duvinage from 1874 to 1882. After a final takeover by Philippe and Arnut, the store closed definitively in 1885.