Fabulous Limoges France porcelain pill box by Birks circa 1910-1920. The pill box or trinket dish is beautifully hand painted with colored flowers and gold trimmings.
The pill box is 3,5 cm high, 6 cm long and 4 cm large.
Limoges porcelain is hard-paste porcelain produced by factories in and around the city of Limoges, France beginning in the late 18th century, but does not refer to a particular manufacturer. By about 1830 Limoges, which was close to the areas where suitable clay was found, had replaced Paris as the main center for private porcelain factories, although the state-owned Sèvre porcelain near Paris remained dominant at the very top of the market. Limoges has maintained this position to the present day.
Henry Birks opened in 1879 a small jewelry shop on Saint James Street in the heart of Montreal's financial and commercial district. In 1893, Birks entered into a partnership with his three sons (William, John and Gerald), and the name of the firm became Henry Birks and Sons. As the focus of Montreal's commercial center moved northward towards Saint Catherine Street, the Birks store moved to new premises on Phillips Square in 1894, where the company still maintains a store and corporate offices.
Starting in 1901, Birks oversaw the expansion of the company across Canada, with stores opening in the country's largest cities. In some cases, it bought local jewelers, adding its name to the local one (the Birks store in Toronto was Birks-Ryrie and the one in Winnipeg was Birks-Dingwall). The store on Phillips Square in Montreal opened in 1907.
In 1934, Birks received a Royal Warrant of Appointment. In December 1934, Birks opened its first store in Vancouver. In 1954, the first Canadian shopping center opened in Dorval and Birks is the first to open a jewelry store within a shopping center.
