Porcelaine de Limoges as the French would call them are not a new collectible, porcelaine de limoges boxes have been around since the 18th century. The discovery of Kaolin clay near Limoges France in the 1700's created a new industry in France -- hard paste Porcelain. (Which up to that time was a highly secret process in China.) Prior to this discovery it was soft paste porcelain de limoges which was extremely fragile and had no staying power.

The manufacture of the porcelaine de Limoges boxes started in the 18th century and continued strong until the late 19th century when the popularity eventually died out. The tiny detailed boxes were used for everything from pills, snuff, beauty patches, and even secret notes. When they were first made there were no other types of containers being used, so when you wanted to carry something around - you needed a little box and the early box shapes were made to specifically accommodate the different porcelaine de limoges items carried.