Pair of Porcelain Portrait. 19th century Gilded bronze Frame signed A.Girou

Pair of porcelain and enamelled portraits featuring a man and a woman of the 17th century. It is most likely a portrait of Louis XIV and Maria Theresa of Austria. The two porcelain medallions are set in a scalloped bronze frame. Each frame is decorated with blue and royal blue champlevé enamel. These motifs of interlacing recalling the marquetry of Charles-André Boulle. Each portrait is enhanced by a red glass element mounted in cabochon. Above each frame, a laurel wreath framing a crest engraved with the figure F. The frames are signed Alphonse Giroux.
This pair of frames is characteristic of the Historical style that develops during the Second Empire. Circa 1850-1860.

The shop of Alphonse Giroux et Cie was located at 7, rue du Coq-Saint-Honoré and continued from the Consulate at the end of the second French Empire. François-Simon-Alphonse Giroux created a shop at the end of the 18th century and at the Restoration in 1834 he became a cabinet maker. He became a supplier to the aristocracy and the royal entourage. Around 1837, he retired and entrusted his succession. This famous store exhibited at the Exhibition of French Industry in 1839 and won a silver medal. They became suppliers of the Second Empire until 1867.
Dim: H 6.29 in / W 4.92 in.