FPS LIVING ROOM LECTURES
We hope you are hungry for fabulous porcelain because this week’s menu is a veritable feast for the eyes. We are delighted to welcome Anaïs Boucher and Viviane Mesqui from the National Museum of Ceramics at Sèvres, curators of the mouth-watering exhibition « À table ! Le repas, tout un art ». They will explore the refinement and complexity of French fine-dining in the Ancien Régime. Bon appétit!
Living Room Lecture: A PATH THROUGH FRENCH TABLEWARE AND GASTRONOMY– Anaïs Boucher and Viviane Mesqui
Time: Saturday*, 10 April 2021, 18:00PM London, UK (BST)
*Please note this time our lecture takes place on a Saturday
Members will receive an email invitation with instructions on how to join the online lecture. If you want to join, please contact us for more details on FPSenquiries@gmail.com.
A PATH THROUGH FRENCH TABLEWARE AND GASTRONOMY
Anaïs Boucher and Viviane Mesqui
All over the world, France symbolises a certain “art de vivre”, the country where people eat delicious meals and spend a lot of time discussing food, seated in front of beautiful tables covered with spectacular dishes, porcelain plates, silver cutlery, and drinking glasses filled with wine.
The art of the table and the pleasure of food is part of the French way of life and not limited to dining at expensive restaurants. This is one of the reasons why ten years ago the “repas gastronomique des Français” (the gastronomic meal of the French) has been classified as an Intangible Cultural Heritage by the UNESCO.
The exhibition « À Table ! Le repas, tout un art » explores the historical and cultural aspects of the art of the table and the art of French gastronomy. It reveals how the opulent and elegant banquets of the Ancien Régime became part of French culture by constituting an ideal of happiness and by transforming everyday lunches and dinners into extraordinary social occasions.
With a chronological approach, the exhibition explains the origins of popular French delicacies and how dining etiquette has evolved from Antiquity to today. The selection of a variety of plates, forks and other objects, functional or of pure fantasy, narrates the amazing stories behind familiar food customs. Sèvres porcelain is in the spotlight as it plays an important role in setting exquisite tables. This feast of Sèvres cups, plates and “glacières” is our way to celebrate the 280th anniversary of the Sèvres Manufacture. Let’s begin the visit!
The exhibition, programmed initially from 18 November, 2020 until 16 May, 2021, is currently closed because of the international pandemic. We hope to open the exhibition before the summer and extend its run until the Autumn.
The exhibition is organised by Anaïs Boucher and Viviane Mesqui, both curators at the National Museum of Ceramics at Sèvres.
Image: Evocation of a “Souper fin” of the late 18th century. Exhibition « À table ! Le repas, tout un art » © Sèvres-manufacture et musées nationaux