This is a truly fabulous hand painted and hand guilded porcelain thimble, produced by Dubarry (Porcelaine de Limoges). Because it has been individually hand painted each thimble of the same design will have small differences making each thimble unique. This thimble is named 'Victoria' the rich decoration around the thimble has a unique regal feel. The history of Limoges Porcelain began in 1768, when a pharmacist discovered in the Limousin, exactly the same clay the Chinese had been using since 185 B.C. to make their Porcelain masterpieces (Limousin is the region/county where Limoges the town is situated). It is more or less in the centre of France. The name of this clay was Kao-ling which means "stone from the hilltops" Under the patronage of Turgo (the administrator of the region of Limoges at the time,) this discovery led to the development of Porcelain manufacturers in the Limousin producing French porcelain of an extremely high standard. And so Limoges porcelain was born, and only porcelain produced in Limoges can have the Limoges stamp and be called Limoges porcelain. This thimble has the Limoges France "Peint Main" backstamp and is signed by the artist. Comes carefully packaged. Height approx 25mm |