Smiling China Cat Figurine Limoges Box

A contented china cat sits upright with a broad smile, looking very much like a pet who has just been fed and knows it. The whole figure forms a hand-painted porcelain Limoges box, made in Limoges, France.

The Cat That Got the Cream

Some cat figures look aloof or sleepy, but this one is plainly happy, and that cheerful face is the reason people pick it up. The cat itself is the box, so on a shelf it reads first as a little porcelain figurine and only later as something that opens.

Purring on the Bookshelf

• Hand-painted porcelain from Limoges, France
• A warm-hearted addition to a cat or kitten figurine shelf
• Sits comfortably beside sleeping cat and cat in a chair pieces

Gifts With Whiskers

A smiling cat suits a friend who has just adopted a rescue, a neighbor who looks after everyone's pets, or a veterinarian marking a new practice. It also makes a kind remembrance for someone missing a cat that lived a long and happy life. Place it on a nightstand, a reading table or a sunny windowsill where a real cat might curl up.

Fired Hard, Painted Soft

Limoges porcelain is hard-paste porcelain, fired at very high heat, which gives it that clean white body. The colors go on afterward by hand, so the expression on each cat comes out a touch different from the next.