Rochard Mini Crab on the Beach Limoges Box

A mini crab scuttles across a stretch of sandy beach, as if guarding its patch of shoreline. Rochard made this little coastal resident as a hand-painted porcelain Limoges box in Limoges, France.

Sideways on the Sand

Anyone who has walked a beach at dawn has seen crabs dart sideways into their holes the moment a shadow falls. This piece captures that small, comic creature in a compact form. The crab and the sand are painted by hand, so each box carries its own slight variations.

Beach Cottage Corners

Its small size makes it easy to tuck onto a bathroom shelf, a guest room nightstand or a windowsill full of shells. It is a natural present for a Chesapeake Bay native, a Maryland crab feast host, a marine biologist, or a friend with a beach house. It also marks a summer birthday, a Cancer star sign, or a vacation remembered every winter.

Tide Line Pairings

• A Rochard piece, hand-painted in Limoges, France
• Joins sand dollar, seashell and lighthouse subjects
• Fits a beach, crab or coastal collection