Leaf Pattern Antique Style Oval Limoges Pin Box

Leaves curl around an oval box styled after the antique pin boxes once kept beside every sewing basket. This traditional shaped Limoges box is hand-painted porcelain, made in Limoges, France, with a lid that lifts to hold pins, buttons or a thimble.

Beside the Sewing Basket

Before plastic cases and magnetic cushions, a small lidded box kept stray pins safe while a dress was hemmed or a quilt pieced together. This design follows that older style, with a leaf pattern painted by hand onto the fired porcelain.

Thread and Needle Pairings

• Hand-painted traditional porcelain from Limoges, France
• Joins sewing machine, spool, thimble and yarn pieces
• Also fits an antique-style or leaf and garden box collection

Made for Makers

Set it beside a sewing machine, on a quilting table, or on a bedroom dresser where earrings and safety pins tend to gather. It makes a thoughtful present for a quilter finishing a first bed quilt, a seamstress who alters every dress in the family, a tailor, or a costume designer. A quilt guild raffle, a retirement from a fabric shop or a grandmother's birthday are all fitting occasions for it.

An Old French Habit

Small lidded porcelain boxes became the fashion in 18th-century France, when they held snuff, pills and beauty patches.