Limoges Porcelain Easter Eggs

The city of Limoges, the capital of Limousin, south west France, is famous for two things, Limoges porcelain and Limoges beef cattle. Both are beautiful but the former is a little more accessible to the average person.

Limoges porcelain is prized for it's fine quality, so fine that it can be almost translucent, but, as well as being fine, it is very strong. When I moved to Limousin to start our Bed and Breakfast and holiday cottage, Limoges china was the obvious choice. Read more about our experience of Limoges porcelain below.

The technique of making porcelain came from China (obviously!), and was a closely guarded secret right until the early 18th century, when Kaolin, the clay that forms the porcelain, was found for the first time at Saxe by the "alchemiste" Bottger.

In 1766 kaolin was found near the small town of Saint Yrieix-la-Perche, about 30 km away from Limoges. The clay was a very pure form and this discovery introduced a golden age for Limoges and the Limousin region. Indeed, the industry was so prevalent that the kilns raged day and night, giving Limoges the name of the Red City, as the light from the flames of the kilns lit up the night sky.

One of the most charming and collectible items made in Limoges porcelain is the trinket box, and for Easter gifts, what could be better than a Limoges Porcelain box in the shape of an egg? These eggs open up and inside a second gift can be hidden. In the past jewellery or perfum in tiny vials would be offered in one of these exquisite, hand painted eggs.

Why not give your loved one a Limoges porcelain egg for Easter?

Image: La Vie en Rose, St Junien, Limousin, France

A cornucopia of Limoges porcelain

These trinket boxes in the picture above, were on display in the porcelain factory shop in the town of Saint Junien, Limousin, France. This factory outlet is, like so many other Limoges porcelain factory shops in this area, an Aladin's Cave of gorgeous goodies. This one is extra-special, as it is situated near one of the most beautiful sections of the River Glane at a spot where the French proto-impressionist artist Corot used to paint.

See more of the porcelain items for sale at La Vie en Rose web site.

• The French Impressionist painter Claude Monet designed a dinner service that was made in Limoges
• Louis XVI purchased the manufacture of porcelain in Limoges in 1784
• Limoges boxes were originally used for snuff
• Haviland Limoges dinnerware was popular in America
• In America Limoges porcelain is often known by the manufacturer's name of Haviland
• The "AE" mark is among the oldest French Limoges made
• Limoges porcelain is fired at a very high temperature so that the clay becomes vitrified (or like glass)
• The factories of Limoges exported plain, white procelain for Victorian ladies in Europe and America to decorate when porcelain painting became a popular Victorian hobby
• Around 1900 there were 35 porcelain works in Limoges with an annual production of up to 3,000 firings
• The Empress Josephine, wife of Napoleon Bonaparte collected Limoges porcelain boxes

Just why are rabbits so often associated with Easter?

Could it have anything to do with rabbits breeding like ... rabbits?

Well, yes. Spring is traditionally a time for love. I Love Paris in the Springtime and all that. Why wouldn't it be associated with new life and fecundity when all around lambs, calves, chicks and, yes, rabbits are being born? The birds are nesting, the hens are laying and all is well with the world.

Easter, which falls in the Spring, before it became a Christian festival, was a pagan festival called 'eastre'; a celebration of spring, nature and fertility. All around nature is bursting forth and turning young men's thoughts to love ... (or something like that).

The rabbit, or hare is a pagan fertility symbol from antiquity, and is also a symbol of the goddess of fertility and of the rising fertility of the earth. They are also cute and cuddly so of course we love to see these little critters at Easter!

For the same reasons as the Easter bunny

Our hens are going broody as soon as the sun hits Limousin, and this occurs in March and April. We have glorious sunny, summer-like Spring days and the hens start to think about babies! We have a glut of eggs at Easter so have great fun decorating them, hunting for them and eating them.

Image: Freshly laid eggs for breakfast at Les Trois Chenes guest house. Hens willing of course!

Grab an Easter bargain by bidding for these lovely Limoges Porcelain trinket boxes in the shape of eggs, or treat yourself or your loved one to these lovely egg cups. All Easter themed.

Some Fabergé eggs were made in Limoges

It is said that French porcelain artists in the late 18th and early 19th centuries who produced the original Limoges boxes inspired Faberé, the creators of the fabulously expensive and exquisitly decorated eggs.

Some Limoges porcelain boxes with the Easter egg theme were decorated with Fabergé eggs and other boxes were made in the shape of eggs. All were intricate little works of art. Read more about Fabergé and Fabergé eggs on Wikipedia

Easter, new life, birth and now music. "If music be the food of love ..." so Shakespear began - and you can show how much you love them by giving this ultra-cute musical egg with a surprising twist: inside a tiny cat is hiding ...

Beautiful, local, fine and strong

What more could you want? We chose this white dinner service from Deshoulières factory shop in Limoges at a very good price. This is a traditional design and I thought it would be easy to replace all the breakages that I anticipated running a family orientated Bed and Breakfast. So far only one cup has 'bitten the dust', dropped from a great height onto a tiled floor!

These dishes have been used and washed in a dishwasher countless times over the last three years and they still look great. So fine you can see the light shining through. Just take a look at the tiny little coffee cup below. Beautiful!

Limoges porcelain is a collectors item. There are many wonderful old pieces to pick up, many small in scale and so ideal for building up a large collection in a small space. But Limoges porcelain is not a dead art, it's very much alive and kicking here in Limousin, so you can still buy beautiful, meaningful pieces that won't cost you an arm and a leg.

The beauty of collecting Limoges porcelain is that you'll have the pleasure of owning these lovely items, but they will hopefully increase in value with time. Treasures to pass on to you children, your grandchildren and their children.

A gift for more than a lifetime.

The porcelain museum at Limoges is a magnificent building filled with more beautiful pieces of porcelain than you could ever imagine. In addition to the collection, there are special exhibitions, porcelain painting classes and workshops for adults and children.