Retired Banana Porcelain Limoges Box

One curved banana, modeled in porcelain and colored by hand, makes a simple and slightly silly subject for a box. It comes from Limoges, France, as a hand-painted Limoges box, and the design is retired.

Going Bananas

The banana is the class clown of the fruit bowl, and it brings that same humor to a collection. Its long, gentle curve is a nice break from all the round apples and oranges that usually fill a fruit shelf. The painter kept it simple and let the familiar shape speak for itself.

Top Banana on the Shelf

• A retired design, hand-painted in Limoges, France
• Belongs with fruit, tropical and kitchen themes
• Adds a long curved outline among round fruit boxes

Peeling Off a Few Ideas

It sits nicely on an office desk, a kitchen counter or a tropical-themed bathroom shelf. Give it to the friend who eats a banana every morning, a smoothie fanatic, a banana bread baker or the coworker who keeps everyone laughing. It also makes a playful birthday surprise for someone who has everything.

The Limoges Way

Kaolin, a fine white clay, turned up near Saint-Yrieix-la-Perche in 1768 and made Limoges a porcelain town. Even a humble banana like this one starts from that same pale clay.