Vintage Intricate Dame Cathedral Porcelain Limoges Box, Signed & Numbered - RARE
Item History & Price
| Reference Number: Avaluer:550110 | Brand: Limoges |
| Country/Region of Manufacture: France |
Item Description:This is a very small beautiful hand painted porcelain Limoges box of the Notre Dame Cathedral hand made in Limoges France. It is very intricate featuring a gold/bronze colored metal clasp and is in mint condition. It is signed “E.G. Versailles and is numbered 3 of 300 on the bottom. We are not for certain of its age.Inside the Limoges box is a porcelain “post card”, intricately hand painted with an image of the Cathedral and the words “kiss from Paris”. A ...rare Limoges collectible. No Reserve Auction!In an effort to help fund reconstruction efforts of the Notre Dame Cathedral following the devastating April 15th fire, 10% of the proceeds from this auction will automatically be donated to the official “Friends of Notre-Dame de Paris” that has been setup by Ebay. To learn more about “Friends of Notre-Dame”, visit the following official site.http://www.notredamedeparis.fr/friends/donate/US Shipping will be with USPS Priority Mail and will be insured for the total value of this auction. Tracking information will be provided.More About Limoges Boxes: The Limoges Box is type of small hinged porcelain trinket box produced by Limoges factories near the city of Limoges, France that are collected worldwide made of hard-paste porcelain.Limoges Porcelain boxes were first created in the mid-1700s during the time that Jacques Turgot, Finance Minister of King Louis XVI, gave a Royal edict to the city of Limoges, France the exclusive right to produce Royal Limoges porcelain for the Kingdom of France. The first Limoges trinket boxes were long narrow containers that were created for expensive needles. From here, other shapes of limoges porcelain boxes evolved. The earliest were those that held thimbles and embroidery scissors and then round flat Limoges boxes were formed and used as powder boxes, and/or snuff boxes.The creation of the Limoges Porcelain Box is an arduous and time intensive process of creating a master mold, detail painting by hand of color and design, performing multiple firings and glazing upon the porcelain mold, and a final touch of a metal hinge for opening and closing. The Painting of the Limoges porcelain in the Limoges box industry are accomplished by small handed French artisans, as experts at the fine brush strokes required for such detailed work. After painting, there are multiple firings. The final firing at a temperature of 1400C is unique to Limoges, giving them a very fine pure and strong white finish. The final touch to a Limoges Box is the metal hinged mountings that are meticulously fitted to the finished box. The entire work process is made by hand, so small variations are the norm, thus making each piece really unique. Each model is often made in very limited numbers, & signed by the Artists or the Atelier.Limoges boxes once were often gold boxes that contained portraits of king and other political figures. Napoleon was one of the great snuffbox collectors, he had about 100 gold portrait boxes made as tokens of appreciation from his political supporters.
