Dark Blue Chest Limoges Box with Painted Flowers

Shaped like a miniature chest, this deep blue box is covered with painted flowers and edged in gold trim. It is a hand-painted porcelain Limoges box from Limoges, France, where the dark ground makes every blossom stand forward.

Midnight Garden in a Chest

A dark background is a painter's favorite trick for flowers, because the petals seem to glow against it. The gold trim follows the lines of the chest and frames the design, giving the piece the look of a tiny heirloom trunk from a French chateau.

Treasures of the Same Hue

• Hand-painted porcelain from Limoges, France
• Sits well with cobalt, navy and blue floral boxes
• Also at home among other chest and trunk shaped pieces

Celebrations Worth a Chest

Its formal colors suit a bride, a couple marking a milestone anniversary, or a parent celebrating a graduate. Put it on a bedroom dresser, a curio shelf or a polished side table, preferably near lighter pieces so the deep blue has contrast. It looks as handsome in a traditional room as it does in a modern one with white walls.

The Old Snuff Box Habit

Small porcelain boxes first became fashionable in 18th-century France, when people carried them for snuff, pills and beauty patches.