What Is a Limoge Box?



A Limoge box is a porcelain jewelry or trinket box shaped into one of an innumerable variety of forms. There are boxes shaped like bears, birds, fishes, frogs, bugs (particularly the famed Ladybug), butterflies, cats, dogs, horses and even monkeys. Then there are shapes from the Zodiac, Children's stories, Nativity, Nature, Monuments, Beaches, New York and the Orient, among numerous other themes.

Artists or factories that have been in the field for long have designed the boxes. In fact, Limoges in France became famous for porcelain, rivaling Chinese porcelain, in the 19th century. All the boxes bear the declaration, Peit Mein (hand painted) and are signed by the artist or factory.

The Limoges boxes are not the products of a single manufacturer. The term Limoges box simply means that the product is from the Limoges region, famed for porcelain during the last two centuries. The kaolin deposits found near Limoges yield fine white clay eminently suited for making superior quality porcelain.

A Limoge Box Is an Excellent Gift Idea

A Limoges box is an ideal gift that can be tailored to a season (like Christmas) or a theme (like a birthday). If you don't find one that you want, just ask your seller to get it. The raw material for porcelain is a highly plastic mixture that can be shaped into any desired shape. The shaped material is then heated at high temperature in a kiln to make the hard porcelain product that you get.

You could tailor the gift to the hobby or interest of the recipient. The innumerable shapes available would cover practically all kinds of preferences. The variety also minimizes the possibility that your gift would be exactly the same as those given by others.

The variety, themes, and above all the sheer beauty of Limoges porcelain painted by hand, make Limoges boxes a pleasure to look at. In fact, you might be tempted to buy a few sets for yourself, in addition to gifting them to your loved ones. These high value porcelain items would add to the decoration of any room.

A Limoge Box

A Limoge box is typically a hard porcelain box shaped like an animal or guitar or fruit or some other shape. Instead of the box itself being shaped in one of these forms, the shape could be mounted on a box of oval or other standard shape. The boxes could be used to store jewelry, trinkets or things like pencils.

The boxes are adorned with a decorative clasp, are hand painted and signed by the artist or factory.

A Limoge box is indeed a fascinating article, a perfect gift for all occasions.

Where Could You Get a Limoge Box?

There are importers who import Limoge boxes from France. These importers stock a large variety of boxes, and would also be in a position to get you a shape or theme not in stock. A good source of Limoge boxes is http://limogesboutique.com where you could find a thousand shapes and more.