Monbro

Georges-Marie Paul Vital Bonifacio Monbro was born in Malta in 1774 and established his business in Paris in 1801 at 215 Rue de Beauregard, passage de la Boucherie. He quickly became recognised as a skilled ébéniste and manufacturer of luxury goods, with travelling nécessaires forming an important part of his work.

Over the following decades, Monbro moved his business through a succession of Paris addresses: 8 Rue Française in 1806, Rue Bourg-l’Abbé in 1810, 5 Rue du Cimetière-Saint-Nicolas in 1811, 44 Rue Basse-du-Rempart in 1832, later 32 Rue Basse-du-Rempart, and finally 2 Rue Boudreau, where he remained until his death in 1841.

A maker’s label from the Rue Française premises describes the business as a “Fabrique Générale de Nécessaire”, demonstrating the importance of fitted travelling cases to the firm from an early stage.

At the Exposition des Produits de l’Industrie Française of 1827, Monbro was officially described as a fabricant de nécessaires. He exhibited two folding writing desks and a jewellery box in native woods, with the jury drawing particular attention to the careful execution of his work. 

His son, Georges-Alphonse-Bonifacio Monbro (1807–1884), succeeded to the business in 1838 and became known as Monbro Aîné, or Monbro fils aîné. Shortly after his father’s death, the business moved to 18 Rue Basse-du-Rempart.

Monbro exhibited at the Exposition des Produits de l’Industrie Française of 1844 and later at the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1855. Under Georges-Alphonse, the firm continued to develop an international reputation for luxury furniture, decorative objects and finely fitted cases.

In 1852, Monbro fils aîné established a London branch at 370 Oxford Street. In Paris, the firm was operating from 19 Rue du Helder by 1853 and remained there into the 1860s. A further London establishment at 2 Frith Street appears to have opened around 1861.

By 1870, Monbro fils aîné was established at 56 Rue de l’Arcade, Paris.