Country Cottage with Trees Hand-Painted Limoges Box

A small country cottage sits among the trees, the kind of place you might pass on a quiet back road in rural France and wish you could stay. It is a hand-painted porcelain Limoges box, with walls, roof and greenery painted in soft colors by hand in Limoges, France.

Down a Country Lane

The trees frame the house like a garden that has grown up around it over many years. It suggests slow mornings, a kettle on the stove and a view of fields from every window, a whole way of life in a piece that fits in the palm.

Village Collection

• Hand-painted porcelain from Limoges, France
• Fits a cottage, village or miniature house collection
• Pairs with the rustic country house and mouse in house pieces

Home Is Where the Heart Is

It makes a warm housewarming present, a memento for a couple who just bought a place in the country, or a thank-you for a real estate agent. Retirees moving to a smaller home often find it meaningful. Set it on a mantel, a kitchen windowsill or a bookshelf beside framed photos of a family home.

Clay From Just Down the Road

Porcelain has been made in Limoges since the late 1700s, ever since kaolin was found near the village of Saint-Yrieix-la-Perche in 1768. Cottages much like this one still dot the countryside nearby.