Lot 170: A FRENCH ORMOLU, FRUITWOOD AND CUT-BRASS INLAID IVORY MARQUETRY AND ROSEWOOD TRAY

A FRENCH ORMOLU, FRUITWOOD AND CUT-BRASS INLAID IVORY MARQUETRY AND ROSEWOOD TRAY BY MAISON GIROUX, THE MARQUETRY BY FERDINAND DUVINAGE, PARIS, CIRCA 1880 Inlaid overall with fruiting foliage and centred by an exotic bird amidst bamboo and rockwork, further decorated with two butterflies, a bee, a grasshopper and a lizard, with 'FD Bte' monogram, the rim signed 'ALPH GIROUX PARIS' 9 5/8 x 12 ½ in. (24.5 x 31.5 cm.)

24.5 x 31.5 cm.

CIRCA 1880

With its sumptuous ivory mosaic decoration, this tray is a fine example of the luxurious objets d'art created by the firm Maison Alphonse Giroux. Founded in Paris in the late 18th century, the Maison Giroux quickly evolved into one of the foremost purveyors of objets de luxe with a sophisticated clientele including Louis XVIII and Charles X. Although they sold a wide range of wares – from paintings to stationery – under the leadership of Ferdinand Duvinage and his wife, Rosalie-Eléonore-Antoinette, they developed a special technique patented as ‘une mosaïque combiné avec cloisonnement métallique’ which is splendidly manifest in the present lot. Reflecting the mid-19th century preoccupation with ‘Orientalist’ decoration, these unique objects were first shown at the 1878 Exposition universelle in Paris. As Daniëlle Kisluk-Grosheide suggests, they are almost always marked and etched FD and Bté (short for ‘breveté’ or patent) and were likely created only between 1877, when the patent was granted, and 1882 when Madame Duvinage ceded her directorship of the firm (D. Kisluk-Grosheide, 'Maison Giroux and its 'Oriental’ Marquetry Technique’, The Journal of The Furniture History Society, vol. XXXV, 1999, p. 154, 162.).