Hand-Painted Decorative Boxes

Art Deco Perfection: 1939 Enamel Travel Suitcase Makeup Compact Case, MUST SEE! An extraordinary embodiment of Jazz Age glamour, bon vivant luxury, and Art Deco wanderlust, this rare 1939 enamel travel suitcase makeup compact represents the pinnacle of 1930s design imagination. Objects of this caliber, playful yet exquisitely executed, are the very heart of serious Art Deco collecting, and it truly does not get better than this. Expertly hand-painted enamel, the compact is modeled as a miniature leather travel suitcase, complete with gold-tone corner protectors, buckled straps, and a sculptural handle that doubles as the opening mechanism. Tipping the handle gently releases the case, revealing a mirror-lined interior and a fully intact, original cosmetic arrangement: a compartment of nude-toned face powder (still present and loose), a smaller compartment of vivid rose blush with its original factory paper liner, and a petite puff, appearing barely used, if at all. The exterior is nothing short of breathtaking. The “leather” surface is entirely hand-painted, featuring linear horizontal brushstrokes on either side and a bold central squiggle motif, evoking the texture of fine luggage from the era. Encircling the case are brilliantly graphic Art Deco travel decals: Paris, London, New York, Roma, Monte Carlo, the Queen Mary, Havanna Club, and, most notably, the legendary French Art Deco ocean liner Normandie, each rendered in vivid color and crisp geometry. These travel motifs “dance” around a central engraved cartouche reading “Topaz Club ’39”, a tantalizing and deeply evocative personalization. During the 1930s, international travel became the ultimate symbol of sophistication and freedom, fueled by luxury steamships, glamorous hotels, elite clubs, and the rise of the cosmopolitan traveler. Suitcases plastered with travel labels became icons of worldliness, instantly signaling status, adventure, and taste. Art Deco embraced this imagery wholeheartedly, using bold typography, streamlined vessels, and exotic destinations to express modern life at its most glamorous. Novelty luxury pieces like this compact translated that ideal into intimate objects, portable symbols of privilege and pleasure. Comparable in spirit to the finest Cartier vanity cases...

A French decorative box made of solid wood, dating from the 1950s, adorned with carved and painted panels depicting traditional figures (female and male portraits in regional costume...

Beautiful porcelain peint a la main (hand painted) vintage crossword puzzle trinket box by Limoges, circa 1980s. This unusual piece is in very good vintage condition and measures 3"W...

A delightful, Japanese licensed Pink Panther Collection lidded box distributed by Royal Orleans and dated 1981. The ceramic box is of large oval form with a fitted slightly domed cov...

A Japanese 18th Century Tsukinami-e 6 Panel Floor Screen depicts the Activities of the Twelve Months of the Year, mineral pigments on gold leaf, mounted on wood panels with 6 frames...

This is a good papier mâché, rectangular shaped black lacquered lidded box, hand enameled and gilded, made in Japan during the 19th century, early Meiji period, circa 1875. This rec...

Carved wood hand painted donation / offering ALM BOX, Spain, 18th century. Polychromed carved wood church collection offering donation money box as wall decoration. This alms box is made of pine wood painted in terracotta hues. A nun carved ornamentation decorates the top. Wall hanging collection / donation money box. Originally used to collect donations at Christian churches/chapels. Interesting to be used as key box or key cabinet or as wall decoration Rare find. Provenance: Private collection. No key avaliable. Overall Measures: 45 cm H x 26 cm W x 21 cm D Poor box...

A green and gold ceramic round box by La Colonnata, small factory established in Sesto Fiorentino, town famous for hand-crafted ceramic. The box it's...

Charming Porcelain Trinket Box painted in purples, gold, green and royal blue. Upon opening the box there is a cute flower design inside the lid. This piece would certainly be a fant...

Impressive hand-painted Folk Art box from the Mid-18th Century. The box has been hand-painted in rusts, reds and greens with roses and flowers. Original paint and metal hardware. Won...

Antique Staffordshire Painted Hen on Nest Covered Box or Tureen, Circa 1880 A charming antique Staffordshire painted hen on a nest-covered box or tureen, dating to circa 1880. This ...

The Matchbox Series is composed of roughly 4”x 6” boxes that make direct references to iconic NYC institutions. These boxes come with slide out inserts that are filled with oversized...

A set of five Limoges French miniature collectible porcelain trinket or pill boxes, each with hand-painted decoration and brass frame. Set includes: a basket with three glass bottles...

A beautiful authentic English fine bone chine porcelain box in the 'Old Imari' pattern, by Royal Crown Derby, circa late-20th century, England. Piece is hand-painted in 22kt gold. Box has a 'hexagon' shape which is a nice alternative to round. A great piece for smaller items of jewelry (as demonstrated with cocktail ring and earrings.) Colors include a white fine bone china base, blue, dark orange hues, and 22kt gold. All authentication marks on bottom as shown in last three images. Made in England. A great piece for a vanity, dresser, nightstand table, desk, as a gift, etc. For porcelain butterfly...

Very decorative hand painted in the Anglo-Indian style. Painted back and gold with each framed panel filled with female dancers and male flower bearing suiters. A colorful and fun, a...

Round pill box in 925/1000 sterling silver gold-plated with Art Deco-style engraving, early 1900s, with translucent fired enamels in various shades. Diameter 4 cm, height 1.3 cm. Wei...

19th century hand painted rustic Swedish box circa 1850. Good quality near square decorative strong box.  Made from solid pine and hand painted in the traditional scandinavian way, ...

A vintage Chinese decorative box, crafted in wood and finished in lustrous black lacquer, its surface delicately adorned with a gilt bamboo and green leaf motif. The design, executed...

From Rochard, Limoges Paris, a hand enameled trinket box, a scent chest with a metal caged glass bottle, circa 1970-1980s. The oval metal braced box has a domed lid with a tear-drop...

Japanese Lacquer Inro with Netsuke Okame Mask, brown lacquer with 3 sections and 2 compartments, and carved ivory polychrome Okame mask and a rope hair. This item is from the Meiji P...

Mid Century Italian bone white glazed ceramic cigarette box with a hand decorated lid featuring a stylized fern.

19th Century Swedish Folk Art Bentwood Box from Hälsingland, Northern Sweden. Oval box with lid. Originalpainted with nice patina after several hundred years of use. Beautifully pain...

Beautiful porcelain peint a la main (hand painted) vintage grand piano trinket box by Limoges, circa 1980s. This unusual piece is in very good vintage ...

Philippe Deshoulieres for Sophie d’E Limoges Signed Porcelain Horse Trinket Box – Estate Provenance From the private estate of a prominent American desi...

A fine antique Japanese Meji Period lacquer box decorated with a fan and a stylized star shaped window in the maki-e technique. The fan at the top right corner, fully opened depictin...

Danish Vintage Artists Paint Box and Pallet, Early 20th Century Well loved Danish artists traveling wooden box with everything needed to paint on location. This charming box, acqui...

Soviet era Mstera hand painted, artist signed lacquer box depicting a scene from Pushkin's renown Tale of Tsar Saltan 20th Century Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin's 1831 masterpiece, "The Tale of Tsar Saltan", a Russian fairy tale...

French Style Enameled Holly Motif Frosted Iridescent Box, Style of Daum Nancy, France, circa early 20th century A stunning French style Enameled Holly Motif Frosted Iridescent Box, ...

Egg on engraved tripod with octagonal folding photo holder for 6 photos inside, in 925/1000 sterling silver gold plated, with translucent fired enamels on guilloché and pure gold “pa...

Charming antique Anglo Indian lidded box handcrafted in indigenous hard wood clad in organic tortoise shell and decorated in bone with painted floral engravings, lacy open fretwork a...

Porcelain bronze mounted box, Art Nouveau style Made of hand-painted crackled, glazed high quality bronze mounted porcelain. Signed on the bottom. An all over polychrome floral deco...

A lovely Swedish folk art footed trunk / box in Nordic pine with original blue paint from Hälsingland, Sweden, dated 1813. It has a domed top, hand painted initials and decorative fl...

Spanish Colonial style painted and gilt wood table top vargueno, a chest with eight drawers and four doors with iron drop pulls. A sweet little chest with a lot of personality, decor...

This is a box for the matcha powder using while tea ceremony in Japan. It is called 'Natsume'. It is made with wood. The design is a boat and it is hand painted. The material is with...

Oval-shaped snuffbox in 925/1000 gold-plated sterling silver with two-tone fire-enamelled stripes. English style, early 1900s. Dimensions: 8 x 4.5 x 2 cm. Weight: 84 g. Designed in 1...

Museum quality Fedoskino soviet era hand painted lacquer box, Golden Autumn, artist signed 20th Century Depicting an idyllic autumn landscape with a romantic bridge over a still stre...

Vintage Kholui hand painted papier mâché box with hinged lid - fine quality - featuring a Russian folklore painting of the Snow Maiden to the raised oval section on the top of the re...

A Swedish green painted pine wood box from the Folk Art Rococo-period, meaning late 18th Century or early 19th Century. The lock hardware is original and the key is working working ...

This is a Limoges Porcelain Pentagonal Shaped Trinket Box. Its background is hand painted white. The top of the hinged lid is adorned with several branches of colorful flowers around...

This is a large and extraordinary lacquered wooden box, with floral decoration and polychrome drawings that represent a man collecting red coral on the beach, on blue background. Made in precious fir wood, Swiss pine, lacquered and engraved. This blue lacquered box...

Round snuff box in 925/1000 sterling silver gold plated with fired enamel on the enameled edge with vertical stripes and fine monochrome miniature hand painted by the painter Renato Dainelli. Diameter cm. 6.2 cm high. 3.4. Weight gr. 222. Designed by Franco Salimbeni in 1967 and produced in Florence in the Salimbeni company headquarters with manual workmanship by skilled artisan artists with thick slab and large reinforcements suitable for withstanding numerous high-fire enamelled firings at approximately 750 < 800° C. Miniature is a very ancient technique which consists of painting works in small proportions. It was born for the decoration of the first letter of the paragraph of the books. Over the years, however, this technique is refined and enriched, then moving on to precious personal items. Hand-painted miniatures can be done with multiple different techniques. The most important that we use on our articles are of three kinds: 1) Fire enamel. 2) Water tempera on an ivory plate. 3) Painted on mother-of-pearl. Fire enameled miniatures: On a first layer of enamel generally white or very clear or even transparent suitably liquefied at a temperature of about 750 ° C, the chosen subject is painted using miniature colors which are as many colored crystals, ground and reduced to a very fine, almost impalpable powder washed and purified in distilled water with the addition of small quantities of deoxidizing acids which, diluted with essential oils (usually essential oil of solder), can be mixed to form a palette of colors. With very fine sable hair brushes you draw the subject starting from the perimeter and then gradually adding various layers of color. It is necessary to carry out various firings very often so that the colors harden and are not absorbed by the underlying glaze as, during the subsequent firings at 750 ° C, during liquefaction, it would spread irremediably. Hence the need to form the painting a little at a time, cooking it numerous times. Therefore it is necessary to proceed with numerous retouching, often overlapping different colors that only the painter's experience knows. A beautiful miniature needs from 20 to over 50 firings and is finished when the painter deems he does not have to further intervene. Some colors must have darker tones than others because then, by superimposing the transparent enamel placed at the end of the miniature, they fade. This transparent layer, called “fondant” in jargon, must be smoothed and polished like all other translucent enamel colors. The miniatures with water tempera colors are painted on real ivory...

The Matchbox Series is composed of roughly 4”x 6” boxes that make direct references to iconic NYC institutions. These boxes come with slide out inserts that are filled with oversized...

Elegant vintage round Limoges 22-karat gold trinket jewelry box. French vintage Limoges trinket box in cobalt royal blue with fine gold decor. Marked...

Japan, Edo to Meiji period, a long rectangular document box with hinged cover, decorated with a bird and a floral basket, The locker is not functioning.

The Matchbox Series is composed of roughly 4”x 6” boxes that make direct references to iconic NYC institutions. These boxes come with slide out inserts that are filled with oversized...

Large Asian decorative wooden jewelry box with brass overlay. Large ethnic Indian hand painted decorative jewelry wood box with brass metal hammere...

This exquisite French Art Nouveau porcelain egg box, dating to around 1900, showcases the opulent elegance of the era. The piece features a delicatel...

Exquisite Reuge S.A. Musical Table Box Description:Discover a stunning large rectangular table box featuring elegantly concave corners, showcasing the exceptional craftsmanship of th...

A French Sèvres Manufacture porcelain egg from the 19th century, with putto and floral hand painted décor. Born in France during the 19th century, this exquisite decorative egg featu...

The Matchbox Series is composed of roughly 4”x 6” boxes that make direct references to iconic NYC institutions. These boxes come with slide out inserts that are filled with oversized...

Handcrafted marquetry Moorish wood inlay micro mosaic with miniature hand painted scene. Handcrafted khatam wooden box with very delicate micro mosaic marquetry from the ancient Pers...

Mid-Century Modern hinged wooden box with colorful birds ceramic tiles top, France 1950s. This exquisite vintage rectangular box is all constructed in wood. Beautiful hand-painted ti...

This antique and fine lacquered wood box, is painted on both the sides with an elegant portrait of a woman and on the other side a dancer. The piece will be delivered with its certi...

Tiffany & Co. porcelain round trinket box. Tiffany & Co. porcelain round map box designed for Tauck World, Made In France. The porcelain lid cover ...

Likely made in the Normandy area of France. Domed hinged top with wrought iron hasp and lock. Conforming case. With original painted surface.

This is a Limoges France Porcelain Needle Trinket Box. Its background is white. It is hand painted and adorned with branches of flowers alternated by pink and gilt bands. Inside the ...

19th century blue opaline glass jar from France with hand painted floral decorations on lid and base.

A Swedish original green painted and carved bentwood box from the Gustavian Folk Art period. These small 19th Century Scandinavian collectibles were usually hand crafted and sometime...

This is a remarkable 19th century, Japanese lacquered sewing box with multiple compartments on the interior. The exterior is decorated in elaborate black and gilded motifs including...

Presenting an absolutely stunning 19c Anglo Ceylonese sewing box of museum quality. Made in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) circa 1860, this is one of the finest sewing boxes of it’s kind that we have ever seen! The box is made from coromandel wood (an exotic hardwood found in Ceylon) and has a serpentine edging all over the front, back and sides. Very often the lids/tops of these boxes suffer cracks due to shrinkage but this one is near perfect with no crack in the lid/top. There is some evidence of natural shrinkage but that is around the edges of the lid/top. It is when you open this box that it reveals it’s true beauty, quality and treasure ! The inside of the lid/top is heavily and beautifully decorated with inlaid bone in scrolling floral patterns which have then been hand painted with red and black ‘lac’ ink. The central medallion is a circle of inlaid specimen exotic hardwoods radiating towards a central bone and hand painted flower. The circle is edged in bone, wood and silver chevrons. What makes this box Exceptionally rare is that it contains 3 lift out base sections. Normally, there would be a maximum of 2. The first tray/section is clearly for the purposes ancillary to sewing with a pair of sections with bone spools for thread etc. There are 17 other lidded compartments with each one highly decorated using hand painted bone and specimen woods to replicate tortoiseshell. The first tray lifts out to reveal a second removeable tray which is made up of a pair of open sections and 8 specimen wood lidded sections each with chevron banding. The third tray is a smaller tray underneath with 14 lidded compartments each with hand painted bone and specimen wood inlaid lids again, replicating the look of tortoiseshell. Again they are banded with a chevron border. This is a museum quality piece ! It is in fantastic condition for it’s age with the minor shrinkage to the edges of the lid/top, some finger pulls missing and some very minor cracks to the tray lids and bases but nothing that in any way detracts from the piece. No key. Dimensions: Closed the box is 16.75 inches wide, 11.25 inches deep and 7.5 inches high Fully open the box is 16.5 inches high, 16.75 inches wide and 11.4 inches deep Anglo-Indian and ceylonese boxes: Anglo Indian boxes were made in India for the English residents from the early part of the 18th century. They were brought back or sent back to England usually by the people who had commissioned them. From the beginning of the nineteenth century they were imported more commercially, although not in any significant numbers until the middle decades. They were very highly valued, especially the early ones, to the extent that the designs were copied on late 19th and early 20th century tins. Anglo-Indian boxes normally consist of 3 main types:- (1) Most of the best and highest quality Anglo-Indian boxes in the 18th and 19th centuries were made in Vizagapatam, India, renowned for its exquisite craftsmanship in using ivory and tortoiseshell and lac decoration. These are referred to as ‘Vizagapatam Boxes...