A Cornucopia of Clasps

Almost every Limoges Box has a decorative clasp that matches the theme of the piece, as well as the banding and serves a purpose...to keep the box closed with a 'snap'. These clasps come in a wide array of styles from simple round buttons, bows and hearts to the very elaborate, and all are slightly bent to catch the metal banding and close securely. Some collectors focus on the clasp and will purchase a piece simply because it has an unusual clasp.

This clasp is made from 24k gold plated sterling silver from Faberge and the design is the Romanov Double Eagle.








The French farmhouse theme is repeated here with this hen clasp from a box featuring a rooster.

This exquisite seahorse is found on an oyster box which opens to a 'pearl' inside and this bottle of French Chamagne has a bunch of grapes at the tip of the Eiffel Tower.

Guy Buffet & Those Whimsical French Waiters

French painter Guy Buffet is famed for his humorous & whimsical art, prints and posters of restaurant and bar scenes, featuring chefs, waiters and barmen, food and drink. He has been drawing and painting since childhood and grew up in a family who owned a restaurant in France. Guy has a huge following worldwide. Anyone who loves food and wine is likely to own at least one of his many licensed products, ranging from shoes, ties, shirts, kitchenware, books, calendars, and prints. Some of his most famous products were items produced for the culinary store Williams-Sonoma.

This Limoges box mixes the elegance of a fine work of art  with the whimsical humor reminiscent of Mr. Buffet's quirky paintings.



How to open your Limoges Box

How to Open Your Limoges Box

Before attempting to open your Limoges box, please carefully read these instructions:

1. Make sure clasp on front of metal band is facing you.
2. Place thumbnails in between the two halves of the metal bands.
3. Gently pull thumbnails in opposite directions until box opens. The clasp is decorative only and does not cause the box to snap open or closed.
4. NEVER pull on the porcelain to open the box. NEVER pull on the clasp. NEVER try to force the box open. NEVER use a knife blade or sharp object to open the box - it may scratch the rim or puncture your hand!
5. Once opened, never pressure the hinge to go backwards if there is resistance... that is designed into the box. NEVER slam the box closed, as this may cause the porcelain to crack or break.
6. Invariably, your friends will want to open your boxes, and that's generally asking for trouble. It's best if you open the box for your friend, and hand it to him or her open.

The Many Glorious Shoes of Paris

This is the Holy Land, the city that shoe lovers all over the world dream about.  Paris is a great shopping mecca, with more stores per square mile than any other city in the world. But for shoe fanatics, it’s paradise. High fashion shoes for women prevail and the high heels match the high prices. Whet your appetite in the swanky shopping districts along the Avenue des Champs-Elysées, Avenue Montaigne, Louvre-Tuileries, and Place Vendôme. Don’t forget the funky independent designers in Abbesses, the Marais, and Saint-Germain-des-Prés.

The essential destination for any fashionista in Paris is Christian Louboutin's flagship store. There's always something magical about visiting the first/original flagship.

This cozy store displays one-of-a-kind shoes in an intimate, exhibit-like environment.
 Not only are the red-soled heels beautifully crafted and flattering, somehow the designer’s creations manage to be comfortable, too. With shoes lovingly presented on illuminated shelves, Louboutin’s Left Bank boutique looks more like an art installation than a shop.

The Café Terrace At Night

Vincent van Gogh's The Cafe Terrace is one of the painter's most remarkable and famous works as well as the first in a trilogy of starlit skies.  More than one hundred years after Vincent painted it, the Cafe Terrace is still in Arles, now called the Cafe Van Gogh.

When you see the café today, the outside walls are bright yellow, which is what it looks like in the painting. But in Van Gogh’s time, they weren’t in fact yellow, but a dull sandy color like a neighboring building. The yellow in the painting is Van Gogh’s interpretation of the light cast by a big gas lamp. This was the painting he did with the candles stuck to his felt hat so that he could see his canvas.


The original The Café Terrace at Night is currently on display at the Kroller-Muller Museum in Otterlo, Netherlands.