Rochard Shark Figurine Limoges Box with Removable Tooth

A grinning shark noses up from the waves with one oversized tooth that lifts right out of its jaw, a small joke any diver or beachcomber will catch at once. This Rochard figurine box is hand-painted porcelain, shaped and decorated in Limoges, France.

Something Lurking in the Shallows

Sharks usually look fierce, but this one has a sense of humor. The loose tooth turns the predator into a character, and it gives the piece a second detail to find after the first glance. Rochard is known for these little removable extras, which reward anyone who takes a closer look.

Swimming With the School

• A Rochard piece, hand-painted in Limoges, France
• Joins whale, dolphin, sea turtle and octopus subjects on an ocean shelf
• Suits a marine biology, scuba or aquarium themed collection

Shark Week on the Mantel

Bring it out each summer when the beach towels come down from the closet, or leave it year round on a desk in a home office that looks toward the water. It makes a clever birthday present for a certified diver, a surfer who has seen a fin or two, or a marine science teacher at the end of the school year. Anyone who once lost a baby tooth and waited for the tooth fairy will smile at the joke too.

A Small French Tradition

Pocket-sized porcelain boxes first caught on in eighteenth-century France, where they held snuff, pills and beauty patches. Today the same hard-paste porcelain carries much more playful subjects, like this one.