Beautiful Limoges Boxes
Since the 18th century, Limoges has manufactured world-renowned porcelain. Each piece has been manufactured and decorated in Limoges, France and bears the distinguished 'Limoges France' signature, the designation 'Peint main' which indicates that the porcelain has been painted by hand. Limoges boxes are highly collectable and are treasured all over Europe, United States and around the world. Authentic Limoges Box from France
An authentic Limoges Trinket Box is made of kaolin porcelain. A stamp saying Limoges France will often tell if the box is authentic. In 1841 a law was passed saying that all Limoges boxes must be stamped with this marking. Some Limoges boxes are detailed more than others, as some have more complexity in the sculpture, and the colors which depict the knowledge, as well as number of firings. This is how collectors distinguish quality. Limoges box of quality are usually hand-painted and marked peint mein (painted by hand). Porcelain Limoges boxes that are not hand painted sometimes will be decorated by transfers. Often when purchased in the states the supplier will include a certificate of Authenticity.
The boxes are always imaginatively designed, each of the better factories vying for the best boxes of the year with the lesser factories following along doing cheaper and cheaper copies of the previous boxes.
Today, on the Internet, there is a company calling their product Limoges, copying the boxes and selling them for five dollars. It doesn't take much knowledge to know that they are not Limoges boxes no matter what they are called.
True Limoges boxes are made by highly skilled artists who are trained for years before their work is considered exact enough for production. From the making of the mold, the painting of each individual box, the designing of the metal fittings and then fitting them to each box, from beginning to end, all of this is done by highly skilled artisans.
The boxes are all miniature, some as small as 1 inch by 1/2 inches though most are between 2 and three inches in size.
Many are numbered limited editions and this is indicated on the base of the box, usually with the artist’s signature or initials. When they are numbered, the number 1 is the last box made. In the best factories the molds generally produce perhaps 300-400 boxes before they are discarded. If the edition is limited to a 1000, for example, that means more than 1 mold was used. In any case, there is few enough of any one style box made, considering worldwide distribution, in a sense they are all Limited Editions.
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