Have you ever wondered what is so exceptional about French Limoges boxes and why their prices increase year after year?
There are several very good reasons for the great popularity of porcelain Limoges boxes, why their prices have remained solidly steady and, more importantly why their values have increased at multiple rates over the years.
Collectible French Limoges boxes are exclusively crafted and hand-painted by French artisans in the Limousine region of central France. This niche industry is considerably small and only employs a modest number of master artists in the region.
Knowing the extensie labor and effort that goes into producing every French Limoges box and the number of craftsmen and artisans involved in creating every single piece, makes you really appreciate the extensive labor involved and the great value of these fantastic and highly collectible objects of art.
To understand why French Limoges boxes increase in value, the following reasons stand out:
Entirely Hand-Made and Hand-Painted
Not too many collectibles are entirely made by hand nowadays.
The art of crafting and producing French porcelain Limoges boxes has not changed from its origins. Since the inception of the porcelain industry in Limoges, the very labor-intensive and lengthy process of creating the white porcelain has remained the same and is still done entirely by hand. The expert craftsmen and women working in the porcelain industry, mix the porcelain ingredients, fill the molds individually and one-by-one, dry the piece and do the first firing. The porcelain pieces then go through numerous other steps and are fired multiple times before each piece of brilliant and translucent Limoges is ready to be hand-painted.
A collection of various hand-crafted and hand-painted French porcelain Limoges boxes | LimogesCollector.com
The master artisans specializing in porcelain painting then can begin their exceptional artwork on each and every piece of porcelain, one by one. After adding many colors individually and firing the piece after the addition of each color, the finished porcelain pieces go to the metal craftsperson for the final step of making a French Limoges box. The metal craftsperson solders the metalwork for each Limoges box individually and fits and adheres it to that piece.
The final product is a magnificent miniature work of art, ready to be loved and admired and grace the homes of collectors.
Shortage of Experienced Porcelain Painters
As mentioned above, the Limoges industry is a niche industry and creating the miniature Limoges boxes falls into even a much smaller category.
It takes very artistic French artisans who specialize in miniature artwork on porcelain to create these exceptional creations.
In the past several years, some of the most experienced Limoges artists who created many of the top quality and highly-detailed Limoges boxes have retired from the industry and no longer produce Limoges boxes. With the increased popularity and demand for French Limoges boxes, especially in the United States, the shortage of seasoned and experienced artists in Limoges, has created backlog on the artists who still produce these exceptional works of art.
This backlog is not only causing much lengthier production time but also higher production costs. The increased levels of demand and shortage of artists producing Limoges boxes in Limoges, France, has contributed to the increase of prices, especially over the recent years.
Supply and Demand
French porcelain Limoges boxes were first introduced in the United States in the middle of the 20th century. Ever since that time, the popularity of Limoges boxes has grown exponentially and continues to grow year after year.
Due to much greater demand for these delicate and dainty art pieces by collectors and gift buyers in Europe, Japan and the United States, there has been a much greater demand for production placed on the very limited number of producers in Limoges. This greater demand on the limited producers of Limoges has contributed to the increases in cost of Limoges production.
French porcelain Limoges boxes with a Paris-theme | LimogesCollector.com
Not only the newly created Limoges boxes come in limited supplies, the numbers of retired and out-of-production creations have also become harder and harder to find. As all Limoges boxes are made in relatively small quantities, many of the styles that are now out-of-production, have become very hard-to-find and many are quite rare. This, of course, increases the value of such pieces considerably.
French & Worldwide Economy
The world’s economy has been under great stress in recent years. France, especially, has experienced great economic woes of its own. These economic pressures have affected every area of business and industry in France. As the costs have risen dramatically in France, the Limoges producers have had to adapt and raise their prices to compensate.
All these cost increases directly affect the prices of the French products, including porcelain Limoges boxes.
Investment Value & Appreciation
French porcelain Limoges boxes are not only impressive collectibles collected for their beauty and artistry, they can be collected as an investment.
Other than the points discussed above that contribute greatly to the appreciation of value of French Limoges boxes, there is also the fact that the knowledge and appreciation of these exquisite art pieces is growing more and more, at a much higher rate than the French artists can produce them.
The more people join the collecting world of French Limoges boxes, the more pieces they desire to add to their collections.
Many collectors who have collected Limoges boxes for a number of years, or even those who have started collecting in recent years, can celebrate the fact that the value of their collection has appreciated greatly.
At LimogesCollector.com, we pride ourselves in offering collectors and gift buyers an impressive and large collection of French porcelain Limoges boxes in every style and theme and for every occasion. With every visit, you are sure to find many Limoges boxes you would love to add to your collection.
Take a few minutes now to browse our collection. We are sure you will not only be impressed with our selection, you will be inspired and find it hard to resist your selected Limoges boxes.
Enjoy!
