Blue Antique Flowers Purse Shaped Limoges Box

Shaped like a ladies' handbag from another era, this porcelain piece is dressed in blue flowers drawn in an antique style. It is a Limoges box made in Limoges, France, with its floral decoration finished by hand, a technique the French call rehausse main.

Blue Blooms on a Clasp Bag

The purse silhouette recalls the structured handbags carried to church, tea and the theater by our grandmothers. Covering it in old-fashioned blue florals gives it the look of a treasured piece of china, the kind of pattern you might find on an heirloom tea set.

What Rehausse Main Means

In a rehausse main piece, the floral design is applied first and then highlighted by hand with color and accents. The result has the crisp outline of a printed pattern and the softness of brushwork, and each box ends up with small differences from its neighbors.

On the Vanity Tray

• Porcelain from Limoges, France, with hand-highlighted decoration
• Belongs in a purse, handbag or blue floral grouping
• Pairs easily with blue and white china or Delft pieces

Set it on a dresser beside a perfume bottle, or line it up with other purse boxes in a glass cabinet. It suits a mother who still keeps her pearls in the top drawer, a friend who collects vintage handbags, or anyone whose kitchen is full of blue flowers.