There is something irresistible about an egg that opens. It promises a surprise, a secret, a little something waiting inside. This collection gathers porcelain eggs in two moods: imperial eggs dressed up like crown jewels, with gold lattice, pedestals, tassels and hidden perfume bottles, and floral eggs painted with roses, sunflowers, butterflies and ribbons as fresh as a spring garden.
Limoges boxes are small hand-painted porcelain boxes with hinged lids, made in and around Limoges, France. The egg is one of the loveliest shapes for them, with a smooth curve that gives the painter room for color and pattern all the way around.
An egg box is a natural Easter gift, but it suits many other moments too: a new baby, a birthday, a wedding, Mother's Day, or a thank-you for someone who deserves a little treasure. Grouped together on a shelf or in a cabinet, a few eggs make a display that feels both playful and grand.
Egg Limoges Box with a Hanging Faberge Style Egg
Once upon a time, a grand egg grew tired of sitting alone in the palace cabinet. So it asked the court jeweler for a companion, and he obliged with a tiny egg to dangle at its side like a pendant. Now the two of them sparkle together, and the grand egg has never been happier.
Butterfly Perfume Egg Limoges Box Figurine on a Stand with Tassel
On a vanity in a sunny room, the butterflies seem ready to lift off the porcelain at any moment. Each morning their owner sets the tassel swinging with one finger, just to watch it sway. A dab of perfume, a last look in the mirror, and the day may begin.
Maroon Egg on Golden Pedestal Limoges Box
In the long gallery of an imaginary château, this egg would stand under glass, lit by a single candle. Guests would lean close to admire the gold lattice and whisper, wondering what it hides inside. The answer, as any good egg will tell you, is entirely up to whoever opens it.
Rochard Owl Egg Limoges Box with Removable Owl
Hoo, hoo, who is this? A little owl, perched beside the egg that once was home, blinking at the great wide world. He is not quite ready to fly away. For now he guards the shell, and at night, when the house is quiet, he tells it stories of the moon.
Pink Stripes Egg with Oval Photo Frame Porcelain Limoges Figurine
Open the pink striped shell and a little face smiles back. Maybe it's a newborn granddaughter, maybe a puppy with one ear up, maybe a couple on their wedding day squinting into the sun. Every time the egg is opened, someone gets to say, "Oh, look," all over again.
Rochard Green Egg Limoges Box Figurine in Gold with Perfume Bottle
A countess, the story goes, kept her favorite scent hidden in a green and gold egg so that no one could ever copy it. Visitors were allowed to smell it once, and only once. Whether the countess was real hardly matters. The tiny bottle inside still feels like a secret.
Cobalt Blue Egg Limoges Box with Gold Lattice
Deep blue as the sky over the Loire at nightfall, with gold lines crossing it like the lead in a cathedral window. A little girl once called it the egg that the stars laid. Her family has called it that ever since, and nobody has found a better name.
Marie Antoinette Style Blue Egg Limoges Box with Bow
Picture a garden party at Versailles in the imagination: powdered wigs, silk slippers, a string quartet under the lime trees. This blue egg, tied with a painted bow, would sit on a table among the cakes, and everyone would agree it was the prettiest thing there, apart from the cakes themselves.
Turquoise Embossed Egg with Pink Blossom and Butterfly Limoges Box
The pink blossom opened on a Tuesday. By Wednesday a butterfly had found it, and by Thursday a tiny ladybug arrived too, insisting she had seen it first. The three of them have been sharing the turquoise egg ever since, mostly in peace, with only occasional squabbles over the best petal.
Embossed Sunflower Charm on a Yellow Limoges Egg
Drive through the countryside in July and the sunflowers all turn their faces the same way, following the sun. This yellow egg has a sunflower of its own, raised so you can run a fingertip over its petals. Put it on a windowsill and see if it turns toward the light.
White Footed Egg Limoges Box with Pink Flowers
Nobody saw it arrive. One spring morning it was simply there on the shelf, standing on its little feet, dotted with pink flowers, as if it had hopped in from the garden overnight. The cat is suspicious. The children are delighted. Grand-mère just smiles and says nothing at all.
Burgundy Striped Porcelain Egg with Roses Limoges Box
Roses laid across burgundy stripes, like a bouquet tossed onto a velvet chair after the opera. Its owner keeps it by the window where the evening light falls. Inside, folded very small, is the first note her husband ever wrote her, which says only, "Same time tomorrow?"
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