Maison Alphonse Giroux and Ferdinand Duvinage

MAISON ALPHONSE GIROUX and FERDINAND DUVINAGE (Paris, 1813-1876).
Japanese style centerpiece. Paris, ca. 1867.
Silver-plated bronze and gilt bronze, with fine wood marquetry and inlay (cloisonné with bone).
Signed.
A very similar piece is in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris.
Measurements: 14,5 x 40 x 40 cm.

Centerpiece consisting of a gilded bronze soffit, decorated with marquetry of fine woods and inlaid with cloisonné of bone tesserae joined by thin sheets of brass, following a technique patented by Duvinage himself. Three storks in silver-plated bronze serve as the feet of this exquisite piece, a true museum piece. The scene shows a pheasant in front of a lake landscape with a profusion of plant shoots. This sumptuous centerpiece is the result of a collaboration between the famous art and furniture maker Alphonse Giroux and the marquetry maker Duvinage, who specializes in finely worked Japanese-style marquetry. This process (cloisonné with bone) was a great commercial success among the aristocracy and gentry of the time, and won him numerous medals at the Universal Exhibitions of 1889 and 1900.

Japanese products were then enjoying great success in Paris. Japonisme was applied in the Western decorative arts of luxury goods. It was often difficult to distinguish between japonisme and chinoiseries, whose influences converged in the same piece. A magazine called Art Amateur in New York was one of the first to use the word "japanesque" as an appropriate response to the works of Giroux and Duvinage.

The two makers and designers began working separately in an oriental style of initially Chinese influence. Giroux mainly adapted Chinese art; his publication "Meubles et fantaisies" of 1840 shows tables in this new fashionable language and is reminiscent of the papier-mâché furniture of the same period.

As for Ferdinand Duvinage, he was a prominent French cabinetmaker, who in alliance with Giroux, took over the management of the Maison Giroux, turning it into a renowned Parisian firm of luxury goods. The firm became famous for the luxurious objects made for a sophisticated clientele that included Louis XVIII and Charles X.

Duvinage took over the company in 1867 and led it through a period of innovation, particularly in marquetry design. In 1874, Duvinage patented a unique marquetry technique that combined ivory, exotic woods and metals such as brass and copper. This process allowed for intricate designs on both flat and curved surfaces, which became the hallmark signature of the company's production. After his death in 1876, his widow, Rosalie, continued to run the company and applied for new patents to perfect his marquetry techniques. The company continued to operate until about 1884, producing furniture and objets d'art that remain highly prized today in museums and collections around the world. Pieces by him are held in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the Metropolitan Museum in New York.