Are My Limoges Boxes Valuable? Value of a Limoges Porcelain Box.

First created in the late 1700s, Limoges France Porcelain was made of kaolin, a form of hard-paste porcelain mixed with a graduating of quartz and feldspar. French porcelain boxes make an exquisite gift as a high-end collectible that can be placed most anywhere, desk or simply displayed on a shelf in your home. If you plan on collecting these Limoges porcelain Boxes figurines or boxes, it is then valuable for you to distinguish the authentic pieces from the fake ones.

Is your Limoges Box Valuable ? Is My Limoges Box Worth Anything ?

Yes ! If it is real ! If it is rare ! and if it is well detailed !

Look at the Stamp – The initial thing to do when you find a Limoge Box is to

look at the bottom, or sometimes inside the upper lid. An authentic Limoges Porcelain box will have a hand-painted factory stamp that says ‘Limoges, France’ insignia. What is written most commonly after that is “peint main” which means hand painted. If there is a “C” or “RC” stamped next to the Limoges insignia that means the piece is an imitation pieces and most likely from the Republic of China.

Look at the Design of the Limoges Box – Look carefully at the design of the piece. If it has animals, people, landscapes try to distinguish if it looks hand-painted or does it look like a decal decorating the piece. Often Floral designs on the pieces, are decals that have been specifically designed by the factory. Renhausse Main (decal pieces) are common with Limoges and highly respected décor on real Limoges in France. Fruit designs that are larger, are common with Rochard Limoges. Sometimes those can be decal as well.

Look carefully at the Glazing on the piece - The glaze is a telltale. Porcelain

Limoges often undergo layers of firings. So the pain will appear both over and under the glaze of the piece. Glaze protects the pieces, but it is also used often as artistic effects. It can shine, or dull, crackle, or they can use other glazing techniques.

The Makers and or Factory Artist Initials – This tells you who contracted the piece, which factory created the piece, or sometimes which artist painted it. There are often many makers, and you will see the same mold with many different signatures and painting styles. Getting the know the most common signatures, will help in identifying the age of it, and the techniques used.
Distinguishing Imagery– Some manufactures will place various pictures of birds, butterflies, cobalt blue coloring commonly on their pieces, as a part of their markings, so people can recognize the artist and factory behind the creation.

The cost between a real Limoge sBox and fake is quite a drastic difference. A fake can cost around $10 to $20 dollars, where a real Limoges could cost upwards between $200 and $500 dollars a piece. The process in creation of a real Limoges Box is quite labor intensive and can be quite complicated. But when you feel the piece, you will see and feel the difference between the soft translucence and art of a Limoges, and a regular China figurine.

Some Limoges Marks Makers and Limoges Markings