Wrapped Candy Limoges Box in Gold and Green

Wrapped like a bonbon from a French confiserie, this porcelain candy shines in gold and green. This sweet is a hand-painted porcelain Limoges box, its foil colors brushed on in Limoges, France.

Unwrapping the Gold

Gold paint on porcelain takes a separate firing, and here it pairs with a rich green to suggest foil wrapping at holiday time. The result looks good enough to unwrap, though this sweet is porcelain from end to end.

The Candy Jar Crowd

• Hand-painted porcelain from Limoges, France
• Pairs with lollipop, gumball and chocolate box pieces
• Belongs on a confectionery, Christmas sweets or candy shop shelf

Sweet Spots to Set It

Its green and gold colors make it a natural for December, tucked beside a real dish of peppermints on the coffee table or set among ornaments on a mantel. It also suits a candy maker, a pastry chef, or anyone who keeps a stash of chocolates in the desk drawer. Collectors of food subjects like to line up several sweets in a row, and this wrapped candy gives that lineup a polished, festive finish.

From Kaolin to Confection

Limoges has worked porcelain since the late 1700s, after deposits of fine white kaolin clay turned up near Saint-Yrieix-la-Perche in 1768. That same clay still gives these boxes their bright white base beneath the paint.