Style Other / Ref.12786

Maison ALPHONSE GIROUX & Cie - Small case in veneer wood with the letters « D.B. » under a Duke crow

his small box was made by the maison Giroux in the early 19th century as indicates the signature inside "Alph. Giroux & Cie Paris".

This store which was originally selling all kind of supplies and small objects such as paints, varnishes, albums, writing-papers, fans, toys, boxes and souvenirs, but also lithographs, drawings and watercolors, considerably developed in the first decades of the 19th century. First, because they count among the clients, important persons such as the Duchesse de Berry, Louis XVIII or even Charles X, then by the drive given by Alphonse Giroux’s sons who joined the firm in 1833. Thus, Alphonse-Gustave Giroux, the eldest son, had the idea to sell small furniture. Even though he was an artist himself, he worked like furniture dealers of the 18th century, with artists who did not have the right to put their signature and exerted a hold over the design of the creation that he chose. He also decided to move the store in the new Opera district on the corner of the 43 boulevard des Capucines and the 24 rue Neuve des Capucines in 1855.
On this same year, the company which had already won medals for the quality of its production during previous events, sells during the World Fair, to the Impress Eugénie, a bonheur du jour, conserved today in the château de Compiègne. In 1867, the store direction is given to Ferdinand Duvinage, Harinkouck and Brune. Little things are known about Harinkouck and Brune who seem to have been associated for a short period of time as Duvinage remains the only one in 1874.

Our precious small box is decorated with a checked pattern in ebony and rosewood veneer interspersed with mother-of-pearl and lightened up with carved brass elements taking the shape of acanthus leave. The inside is pad with an elegant beige silk fabric on the bottom and the lid. The hinges also made of brass show a well done carving work and refined. Finally, the handle space on the lid is chiseled with the initials D.B. under a duke crown, letting us think that this box could have been ordered by the Duchesse de Berry, who was a loyal client to the store.