Rochard Oyster Plate Porcelain Limoges Box

An oyster plate, the signature of a French seafood feast, has been turned into a Rochard box that brings the brasserie to your sideboard, with every detail brushed on by Rochard painters in Limoges, France.

A Dozen on the Half Shell

In Paris and along the Brittany coast, a platter of oysters with lemon and mignonette is a celebration in itself. Oyster plates, with their shell shaped wells, became a collected tableware form in their own right. This porcelain piece nods to that tradition, and Rochard's hand painting gives each plate its own subtle color.

The Tableware Tradition

Fittingly, Limoges is famous for porcelain dinnerware as well as boxes. The craft took hold after kaolin was found near Saint-Yrieix-la-Perche in 1768, and the region's hard-paste porcelain has graced French tables ever since.

Raw Bar Companions

• A Rochard piece, hand-painted in Limoges, France
• Pairs with seafood basket, lobster, champagne and wine pieces
• Suits a seafood, coastal or dining collection

Give it to a host known for New Year's Eve oysters, a chef, or a collector of antique oyster plates, and display it in a china cabinet or on a coastal dining room sideboard.