Box - Porcelain - pill box

Refined small porcelain pill box, attributed to Edmé Samson & Cie, Paris, second half of the 19th century, probably the last third of the 19th century.

The Samson house, founded in Paris in the 19th century, was notably renowned for creating historicist porcelains inspired by the great European manufactories of the 18th century, among which Sèvres.

Decoration: hand-painted polychrome decoration. The lid features an elegant black ground adorned with small pink, red, yellow, and green flowers, accompanied by stylized gold foliage. The rim repeats a black and gold frieze on a white background. The interior of the lid and the receptacle is decorated with delicate gold branches.

Mounting: antique metal mounting, patinated, presumably a copper alloy, with hinge and a decorative clasp in the shape of an oak leaf. There is, between the porcelain and the mounting, the presence of the old sealing material used during assembly.

Mark: blue handwritten mark under the base, apocryphal type, in the style of Sèvres marks. Its graphics and the typology of the object lead to proposing an attribution to the Parisian manufacture Edmé Samson & Cie, attribution given subject to reservation.

Specifications:
Attribution: Edmé Samson & Cie, Paris
Period: second half of the 19th century, probably circa 1870–1900
Dimensions: 5.8 × 4.4 × 2.9 cm
Weight: 55 g
Materials: porcelain, polychrome and gilded decoration, metal mounting

Condition: good overall condition. No chips, cracks, or restorations of the porcelain observed in the photographs. Hinge and clasp functional. Wear and patina appropriate to age, notably on the gilding and the mounting. Old traces of sealing material at the seam.