Rare neo-gothic style box by Alphonse GIROUX (1776-1848) Gilt bronze jewelry box with engraved decoration of floral scrolls, applied with steel straps with pierced orbevoies, of rectangular shape with a domed lid opening on hinges, applied to the center of a shield decorated with the monogram AL in gothic characters in chased gilt bronze. The corners are decorated with niches containing figures of three kings and a queen of France in carved ivory under a canopy. The two sides decorated with three-lobed arcatures. Key clasp decorated with a mouse. The interior covered with red velvet, signed on the edge Alp(honse). Giroux et C(ompag)nie in Paris. Very good condition, slight wear. With its key. By Alphonse GIROUX et Compagnie, Paris, 1838-1848. Height : 20 cm - Width : 23 cm - Depth : 15,5 cm (with handle) History : This magnificent case testifies to the historicist trend irrigating the French decorative arts in the 19th century and in particular to the taste for the art of the Middle Ages. It finds its inspiration in the shrine-reliquaries of the XIIth and XIIIth centuries, but the shape is the same as the jewel cases of the XVth century inspired by the flamboyant gothic architecture. It is the work of the famous workshop of Alphonse GIROUX, whose shop of tableware and curiosities was located in Paris, 7 rue du Coq-Saint-Honoré, and whose activity extends from the Consulate to the end of the Second Empire, having supplied all the reigning families. This company was created by François-Simon- Alphonse GIROUX (1775-1848), a French painter, table maker and cabinet maker, and then managed from 1838 by his two sons Alphonse-Gustave (1810-1886) and André (1801-1879), under the name ALPHONSE GIROUX et Cie. Transferred in 1857 to 43 boulevard des Capucines, it was then at the forefront of luxury shops. The GIROUX company ceased all activity in 1885. Other boxes of the same shape with several variants are known, testifying to the variety of choices and sponsors that the GIROUX company had, our example being of the second size. Related works: An identical box of the first size, applied with the arms of Queen Marie-Amélie, was sold in the same house, April 1, 2021, lot 69 (auctioned 22500 ). An identical box of first size, applied with the arms ROTHSCHILD, is preserved in the Rhode Island School of Design Museum, USA (inv. 2002.49). An identical box in ebony and steel of the same dimensions, with gilded bronze monarchs, applied with a blank coat of arms, is preserved at Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris (inv. 2017.78). An identical box of the same dimensions, applied with the BACON arms, sold at Bonham's SF, 18 March 2013, lot 1130. An identical fully gilt bronze box of the same dimensions, applied with an AS monogram, sold at Sotheby's Paris, 9 November 2012, lot 193. An identical box of the same dimensions, applied with an unidentified coat of arms, sold at Christie's NY, 22 October 2010, lot 310. An identical box of the same dimensions, applied with a monogram, sold at Mayfair Galleries (London). Bibliography: D. KISLUK-GROSHEID, Maison Giroux and its 'Oriental' Marquetry Technique, Furniture History: The Journal of The Furniture History Society, 1998, vol. 34, p. 166.