Limoges Porcelain Box Shaving Brush, France Paint Main Hand Painted

  

Super cute and rare vintage Limoges box, in the shape of a shaving brush, decorated with hand-painted details. This charming box was skillfully hand-crafted and hand-painted with a great degree of details, in Limoges, France. It is adorned with intricate metalwork and an ornate clasp. Marked with "Paint Main Limoges France".

Minor use related marks and wear on the underside, there are couple of spots with enamel loss on the interior, near the brass band, but otherwise it is in good condition. The Limoges Box is type of small hinged porcelain trinket box produced by Limoges porcelain factories near the city of Limoges, France. They are made of hard-paste porcelain and collected worldwide. Limoges porcelain boxes were first created in the mid-18th century after 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. Under Louis XIV these small boxes were used to hold a lock of lady's hair or small poem. 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.

Please inspect pictures in my listings as they are part of the description. I'm happy to provide additional information upon request.

Because most of my items are extremely fragile, I use larger boxes with extra padding and most often double box. Thank you very much for shopping with Alexandra's Gallery. My customer's satisfaction is my highest priority. Please send me a message whenever you need assistance.