Depictions of Eating & Drinking - (Page 5 of 5)

Paintings can depict events where eating and drinking takes place as almost theatrical occasions. Eugene Lami's A Supper with the Regent, for example, shows a chaotic affair with chairs lying on the ground and people shown clearly drunk after enjoying a long meal at the French royal court.

Another painting shown here includes food itself. Van Hulsdonck's painting The Breakfast-piece is an example of a type of painting which was often used to decorate the houses of Dutch merchants, showing the types of food that their level of income allowed them to eat.

The Model of a Butcher's Shop provides us with a unique insight into how food was bought and sold in the past. This is quite an unusual object to find in a museum, because museums tend to house rare and expensive pieces rather than pieces like this, which shows everyday life for everyday people. As such it is very interesting. This sign acted as an advertisement for the butcher to show which cuts of meat he sold. It would have been used in the window of the butcher's shop when it was closed: an interesting concept to consider in our time of 24-hour supermarkets.