Floral Chests and Keepsake Limoges Boxes
Floral chests and keepsake Limoges boxes are the classic shapes collectors start with and keep coming back to. Squares, hexagons, small trunks and long flat rectangles each carry painted roses, violets or a full flower basket, often finished with gold bands. They are made to hold something, whether a pair of cufflinks, a ring or a folded note you are not ready to throw away.
The palette runs from pale blue and soft yellow to deep burgundy, maroon and dark navy with gold. A Madame Pompadour rectangle wears pink flowers, a square Sevres pattern box shows off its roses, and a green square holds a single orange bloom. Some open on a surprise, such as four little perfume bottles set inside a square chest or a teacup resting in a flowered footstool. Trunks feel like small luggage, with a Je T'aime version for a sweetheart and a turquoise one striped in pink. A large maroon jewelry chest takes a real handful of rings. All of them are Hand-Painted porcelain from Limoges, France, with hinged lids and brass clasps. Keep one on the dresser for watch and wedding band at night, or give a flowered square to your wife for the earrings she always loses.
