For the one in your life who appreciates luxury collectibles and decadence, we have crafted the Luxe Marchesa Casati Collection. Twelve 85% dark chocolate caramel truffles are dusted with real, edible pearl dust and suspended in a Lucite box swimming with freshwater pearls. Long after the truffles have been devoured, the box will guard jewelry, cufflinks or your most treasured potions.

SKU: TC-CAS-012-LUX

She was the tempest of the ball, a woman in pearls, a woman who walked her exotic cats in jeweled collars naked in the moonlight, a femme fatale.

If Edgar Allen Poe had begotten the moonchild of his darkest reveries with the help of Coco Chanel, the result would have been the Marchesa, Luisa Casati. For she was, without a doubt, the most scandalous figure in the international art and society scenes of the early twentieth century.

In Casati's honor, I have conjured up a bewitching black sea salt caramel enrobed in bittersweet 85% cacao dark chocolate and crowned with edible freshwater pearl dust. This is the perfect collection for the dark chocolate addict and adventurer. Black sea salt is reminiscent of Luisa's black painted eyes and black-cloaked body. White pearl dust crowns the truffle, just as Luisa's frosting of pearl strands draped to her ankles, dressing her like a shiny oyster from the sea.
–Katrina

SKU: TC-CAS-012-LUX

In the Marchesa's earlier phase of fashionista exploits, she was known for her love of only two colors: black and white. She was often seen cloaked in a wardrobe of cathedral-train black dresses carrying a crystal ball, with pearls strung around her body like a harp.

The pearl drew her allure: a symbol of beauty, power and mystique. Innumerable myths surround the formation of pearls, all mystical, calling their birth "diving raindrops," "dewdrops" and "children of the moon." In the Far East the pearl was believed to have formed in the brain of the sage dragon, hence the phrase, "pearls of wisdom." The Greeks considered pearls a symbol of love's energy; in India they were thought to be drops of dew that had fallen into the sea.

The Marchesa's siren allure inspired some of the greatest artists of the time. She was sculpted by Epstein, photographed by Cecil Beaton and Man Ray and rendered on canvas by numerous painters, including Van Dongen (front of box cover art, 1914), Boldini and Augustus John. Couturiers Fortuny, Poiret and Erté dressed her. She was likely the most artistically represented woman in history after the Virgin Mary and Cleopatra.

- To learn more about Luisa Casati, visit www.marchesacasati.com.

To delve even deeper, read her fascinating biography, Infinite Variety: The Life & Legend of the Marchesa Casati, by Scot Ryersson and Michael Yaccarino (University of Minnesota Press, 7/2004).

SKU3: TC-CAS-012-LUX