No one knows exactly
when and who made the first porcelain Limoges snuffbox. The soft paste
Faience snuffboxes began to be produced sometime around 1730. These
antique snuffboxes can't either be identified by back stamp marks, for
none were put on them. Nor were they signed or dated. There is no easy
way to know if a antique Limoges snuff box is authentic beyond having a
grasp of the history of the styles they made in that time and the Four
big factories that made them, Chantilly(1725-1800), Saint
Cloud(1677-1766), Mennecy(1734-73), and Vincennes(1740-56), which
became Royal Sevres(1756-present). Sometimes a popular artist at the
time would place his signature on the antique Limoges snuffbox. The
discovery of Kaolin and the creation of hard-paste Limoges porcelain in
1768 brought many new companies into the scene who began creating
Limoges porcelain boxes in competition with the big Limoges porcelain
box companies. Identifying an 18th century Limoges snuffbox is just as
difficult for they also did not mark their Limoges Boxes with back
stamps and competitors were producing knockoff's of one another and
stealing one another's porcelain formulas and enamel recipes. For back
stamps were used it is still difficult to distinguish for many
companies in competition would forge one another's Limoges Box back
stamps. It is in the 19th century that the soft-paste porcelain ceased
to exist and only genuine Limoges porcelain boxes were made of the
special clay Kaolin come solely into play. But in the 18th century
snuff became unpopular and the factories declined in snuff Limoges box
making and made more other subjects with porcelain. It was at this time
that the Limoges porcelain industry all centered in the actual area of
Limoges and it's outlying areas.