Dinner time! The art of a meal

From the 15th of December 2021 to the 30th of May 2022, the Adrien Dubouché National Museum presented a temporary exhibition: Dinner time! The art of a meal.

The exhibition highlights the amazing history of French gastronomy from the 17th century to today. Created by the national ceramics museum in Sèvres, based on the original idea from the Pointe-à-Callière museum in Canada and adapted in Limoges by the Adrien Dubouché National Museum, the exhibition includes the preparation and use of the porcelaine as well as the art of the table and of conversation.

Through over five hundred objects made of faience and porcelaine, goldsmiths’ pieces and glasswork as well as drawings engravings, menus and recipe books, the Adrien Dubouché National Museum celebrates conviviality, sharing, and communication all whilst remembering the greatness of French gastronomy.

Presented in the three temporary exhibition rooms of the museum, ‘Dinner time! The art of a meal” offers a chronological trip through themed showcases which present objects used for the consumation of spices, salt, sugar, chocolate and coffee. Dressed tables also mean you can discover the layout of cutlery in the 18th 19th and the beginning of the 20th century.

As well as the dishes themselves, the preparation of the meals, the decoration of the tables and the sociabilty behind a meal are represented through the French “art de vivre”. All these aspects contributed to the classification of the French gastronomic meal as an intangible heritage of humanity by UNESCO in 2010.

These exceptional objects, from public collections, French luxury brands or on loan from private collectors, reveal the diversity of shapes and styles used in the creation of these masterpieces.

Throughout the exhibition, emblematic works also bear witness to the creativity and excellence of the Limoges manufactures in the domain of tableware, from the creations of the Count of Artois at the end of the 18th century to contemporary dinner services designed for great chefs.

Dinner Time! The art of a meal, is an exhibition to be discovered with the whole family thanks to a rich and varied cultural programme adapted to all audiences.