vtg handpainted house/home custom limoges manufacture de la reine box france

Description: the box do note! there is some verdigris on the brass finish to the box. this is concentrated on the front box closing mechanism. (see second image.) the box does not close well. otherwise, i can find no issues. interesting box made by limoges manufacture de La reine (who, according to limogesboutique, is one of the oldest makers in limoges). you can read more about limoges porcelain and limoges boxes further below. the box is handpainted with a lovely mansion. the top of the closed box is 1⅛" above the surface on which the box rests. the box is 2⅜" wide by 1¾" from front to box. you can view the second-to-last image to gain a sense of scale. you can see the marks on the box in the last image. i artificially high-contrasted one of the images to see what it actually said. hand written on the base love cici inside the box reads «agfnes and pete». the base is marked with the logo of manufacture de la reine and reads «limoges • france» about limoges manufacture de la reine [from: limogesboutique] one of the oldest in makers in limoges. history of limoges (from: thelimogeslady) limoges, france is located 229 miles southwest of paris. the city of Limoges has a population of 200,000 and is the 22nd largest city in france. in the 18th century, major deposits of high quality kaolin clay were discovered. consequently, the region grew quickly famous for its production of fine artistic porcelain china and boxes. limoges boxes have a diverse history. over the centuries, products have ranged from large candy and jewelry boxes to smaller boxes suitable for the storage of pills, rouge, powders, snuff and small personal items. limoges boxes vary in the quality and detail of the design, the amount of labor and artistic skill involved in casting, firing and decorating, and the number of pieces produced. naturally, the price of a box varies accordingly. each piece is marked by hand, in french; to indicate that it is an original, hand painted creation. the finished box with the world famous insignia, peint main, hand painted can be found on any authentic box. these beautiful limoges boxes make wonderful gifts and decorative accessories. the limoges box process begins with sketches, drawings and/or watercolors. a sculptor takes these and creates a model from plaster and/or clay for the original mold. depending on the complexity of the form, the mold could consist of three separate parts to as many as 30 or 40 pieces. these pieces fit together like a puzzle, the negative cavity inside creating the positive shape in porcelain. once the prototype is approved for form, a «mother» mold is created from silicone or resin, from which many production molds are made. the production molds wear out after 50 to 80 uses; thus new production molds must constantly be made from the mother molds. each piece is then hand poured into the mold. the thick liquid is created from a mixture of quartz, feldspath, and kaolin. it is left to stand a few seconds to thicken the wall of the piece, and then the remainder is poured out. afterwards, it is removed from the mold very carefully by hand and left to dry for a day or so. each piece is then hand finished, meaning edges caused by the joints in the mold are removed. then the piece is fired at approximately 900 degrees celsius to dry it out completely and make it ready to accept (absorb) the enamel. each piece is then hand dipped into a bath of enamel (the same mixture of quartz, feldspath and kaolin, but in different proportions). this enamel is actually clear. the beautiful white result shining through is the color of this porcelain and the reason why it is so famous. then the pieces pass into the «grands feux» or hottest kiln, and are fired at 1400 degrees Celsius (a 24-hour process, 12 to fire and another 12 just to cool down the kiln enough to be able to open it). now the pieces pass into the hand painting studios. the spectrums of colors are fired at different temperatures, for example, blues and purples are fired from 750-900 degrees celsius, whereas reds are fired at between 550 and 700 degrees celsius. reds will in fact disappear (be burned away) at higher temperatures. therefore, depending on the number of colors, a piece could go through the kiln as many as 5 or 6 more times. each piece is signed, and sometimes numbered by the artist with the ever important identifying «peint main», meaning «hand painted», and limoges, france, written on the bottom, certifying that you have indeed purchased a truly unique, completely handcrafted piece. porcelain undergoes shrinkage of 13-15% during the major firing of 1400 degrees, with differences in vertical versus horizontal shrinking. therefore, although the pieces are poured from the same mold, each one has slight variations and is unique. this fact means that standardized hinges are an impossibility. each piece is individually fitted by hand with a brass hinge and each clasp (usually a whimsical creation, highly detailed, recalling the «story» of the piece) is soldered on by hand. any additional metal, leather, glass and other material add-ons are applied by hand at this point. history of limoges boxes (from: limogesboutique) marco polo's famous 24 year trip to the orient was where the notion of porcelain and chinese ceramics originated throughout western europe. the chinese were so distinguished for their porcelain production that they influenced european style for centuries. the first europeans to bring porcelain making to europe during the middle ages were the venetians and portuguese. the most important ingredient to making porcelain is kaolin, which is a white clay that is a silicate of aluminum found in china, germany and limoges france. europeans didn't think that such an ingredients could be found in the earth and had their alchemists try to artificially make this substance. for years europeans used a soft fake substance for porcelain that was more of a soft paste and like that of glass. they couldn't find a substance like the middle east had made their fine porcelain from. in the early 17th century kaolin was discovered in germany and the secret to chinese porcelain was finally disclosed throughout europe. it was in the mid to late 18th century that Kaolin was discovered in limoges france in 18 miles southwest of limoges at st. yrieix. it is shortly after that time period that the first porcelain factory was established. louis xvi soon bought the limoges box factory, and limoges porcelain box blanks were taken to sevres to be hand painted and decorated. no one knows exactly when and who made the first porcelain snuffbox out of limoges. the soft paste faience snuffboxes began to be produced sometime around 1730. these antique snuffboxes can't either be identified by back stamp marks, for none were put on them. nor were they signed or dated. there is no easy way to know if a antique snuff box is authentic beyond having a grasp of the history of the styles they made in that time. the four big factories that made them were chantilly (1725–1800), saint cloud (1677–1766), mennecy (1734–73), and vincennes (1740–56); which later became royal sevres (1756–present). sometimes a popular artist at the time would place his signature on the antique trinket box. the discovery of kaolin and the creation of hard-paste french porcelain in 1768 brought many new companies into the scene who began creating limoges porcelain boxes. in competition with the big limoges porcelain box companies. identifying an 18th century snuffbox is just as difficult for they also did not mark their limoges boxes with back stamps and competitors were producing knockoff's of one another and stealing one another's porcelain formulas and enamel recipes. for back stamps were used it is still difficult to distinguish for many companies in competition would forge one another's limoges Box back stamps. it is in the 19th century that the soft-paste porcelain ceased to exist and only genuine limoges porcelain boxes were made of the special clay kaolin. but, in the 18th century snuff became unpopular and the factories declined in snuff box making, from there other subjects with porcelain began to be hand-crafted. it was at this time, that the limoges porcelain industry became all centered in the actual area of limoges. a limoges box is a small hand-painted box made of french porcelain that has been man-made in limoges france. this type of french porcelain was invented in Paris in the early 1700s, and was popular among the french aristocracy as snuffboxes. the limoges box virtually disappeared around the again began to build. during the victorian era these french boxes lost popularity again until the 1970s when people began to carry their pills in this special type of french porcelain figurine boxes. originally snuffboxes were considered apart of ones wardrobe. they were carried in one's pocket like a fancy cigarette case. in the 20th century they became popularly used as pillboxes. although snuff went out of style long ago. these french porcelain figurines and boxes in the modern era has developed into a friendship and love collectibles, decorative objects, or as a special figurine gifts bringing meaning between lovers and friends used for aesthetic and symbolic value thereof. hard paste porcelain is a high quality of porcelain china that was first developed in china and later used in europe. this hard paste porcelain uses the clay called kaolin. kaolin limoges clay is translucent, durable, nonporous and pure white. consists mainly of silicon oxide and aluminum oxide, with a low content of iron oxide and other metallic oxides. white-firing china clay, an essential ingredient of chinese and french porcelain. limoges porcelain is a special kind of pottery made with the clay kaolin that is hardened by heating. it consists mainly of silicon oxide and aluminum oxide, with a low content of iron oxide and other metallic oxides. limoges porcelain combines a very fine, pure, white clay (kaolin) with pulverized feldspar and quartz. the milling, sieving, and kneading of the clay is a laborious process. this this type of porcelain is very translucent and consistently smooth in texture and often rings when it is struck. to be authentic a Limoges Box figurine must be made of the kaolin clay that is only found in France. a back stamp saying limoges france is a great indication if the box is authentic. there was a law that was passed in 1841 authentic limoges jewelry boxes stating that all limoges boxes must be stamped this way. some of these french boxes are better quality that other depending on the degree of detail and quality of the painting, as the complexity of the sculpture and the colors depict the knowledge. the number of firings and painting details in layers are often increased with an increase of value. many studios operating within the limoges area may mark their porcelains with their factory symbol of initials. the number of factories producing limoges currently estimate at about 35 different companies. these factories employ anywhere between 6 and 400 workers. these companies can be identified by the marking of limoges france on the bottom of every trinket or figurine box. maker's and/or other marks according to grayspottery, this mark dates the set in the range of 1935–1945. (see last image.) the bottom marks are as follows. cup hand written 3 dots in the shpae of a triangle. [illegible character] 1 3877 «sunbluff» gray clipper ship (said to be based on the brigatine ‹emily›.) gray's pottery made in stoke-on-trent, england saucer hand written 3 dots in the shpae of a triangle. a 3872 «sunbluff» gray clipper ship (said to be based on the brigatine ‹emily›.) gray's pottery made in stoke-on-trent, england blue stamp over bsckstamp reading something like «dirkortom» with two other illegible words dimensions the saucer has a rim diameter of 4½". from the surface on which the cup rests to the rim is 2¼". the cup's rim dimater is also 2¼". you can view the second-to-last image to gain a sense of scale. condition do note! there is crazing to the glaze. i do not know if that is part of the original intended design or not. but please do note this. this is also some scratching to the gold in places when very close up. see second image. otherwise, i can find no issues. the fine print the images serve as the majority of the listing description, so take a look at them closely. shipping costs have really increased—this is calculated into the buy-it-now price. i really add a large amount of packaging to protect what i ship, so that will inherently add alot of weight already. and shipping prices increase greatly with minor increments in weight. i am not able to sell individual items from items i have listed as a group. i just don't have the stamina to create new listings for those. i apologize for that. i haven't initially individually listed items because i don't have enough listing slots to so. trying to downsize some, though extremely melancholically. shipping time: i otherwise work more than full time and my health isn't great, so kindly excuse the longer handling time. if i am able to ship sooner, i absolutely will do that. i appreciate you taking the time to view my listing.

Price: 40 USD

Location: Atlanta, Georgia

End Time: 2024-11-08T03:03:12.000Z

Shipping Cost: 0 USD