Two birds of paradise sit on a flowering branch at the centre of this piece, painted in orange, blue and red against the white porcelain ground, with gold picking out details across the design. Limoges tableware more often leans toward softer, muted pastels, so the boldness of this palette stands out against the usual conventions of the pattern type.
The oval form works equally well as a small serving dish or somewhere to keep sweets, small enough that it was never really built for one function alone. Pieces like this tend to end up on display as much as they're actually used, decoration outweighing the practical purpose it was originally made for.
