Maison Alph Giroux Exceptional Signed Cloisonne Hand Mirror

Maison Alphonse Giroux, "the merchant of princes", is an important Parisian manufacturer of luxury furniture and accessories, whose products were intended for an aristocratic and bourgeois clientele, established in 1799 at n ° 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 "Alphonse Giroux et Cie" until 1867, when the management is taken over by Ferdinand Duvinage. The store founded by Giroux father often changed its description in the directory, and we guess a very diversified activity. Specialized in paper and artistic supplies, it is also a restorer of paintings and offers novelties and writing objects: it sells inkstands, inkwells, and also toys. Indeed, on June 6, 1818, he filed the patent for the kaleidoscope which he also called the “transfigurator”. This new toy is all the rage and Alphonse Giroux thus attracts a clientele in demand for luxury gifts. The store thus enjoyed success from the Consulate, so that during the Restoration it was already important. Thus, Louis XVIII asked Alphonse Giroux to create New Year's gifts for the children of France: a golden carriage kept at the Carnavalet museum. The mother-of-pearl horses are harnessed in gold, and the carriage is adorned with emeralds and glazed in rock crystal. Focusing on furniture and cabinetmaking around 1830, the store continued to supply, among other things, beautiful objects that could 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 they are far from simply re-editing past models. These are indeed creations sometimes marked by 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 inspiration, true artistic creations of their authors, but they are always of perfect luxury. This is the case of the bonheur-du-jour presented at the Universal Exhibition of 1855, which seduced the Empress Eugénie. This impressive carved linden cabinet seems covered in climbing plants, which invade the space and give it the appearance of having escaped from a fairy tale. It is now kept at the Château de Compiègne. Anxious to offer the best to its customers, the store remains at the forefront of progress. Thus, in the 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 custodian 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 provided by the store. The Alphonse Giroux house was sold in 1867 to Duvinage, cousin of Alphonse Giroux fils, and was managed by the widow Duvinage from 1874 to 1882. After a final takeover by Philippe and Arnut, the store closed definitively in 1885. original text from the Marc Maison website, thank you