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eat, drink & be merry‘Eat, Drink & Be Merry’ highlights the changing tastes and fashions of British eating habits over the last four centuries, from the lavish feasts of the seventeenth century to the cosmopolitan eating of contemporary Britain. At the centrepiece of each room are elaborate meal reconstruction’s, like the ‘Duke of Newcastle’s Feast at Windsor, 1698’, recreated from illustrations in contemporary cookery books.
In the adjoining room, a ‘Jacobean banquet’ is displayed. Recreated from an early seventeenth century wall painting it is an elaborate aftercourse of sweetmeats, at the centre of which is a miniature sugar-crafted building surrounded by a ‘garden’ of marzipan and comfits. The comfits were seen as necessary to aid digestion after the feast. Also in sugar are the wineglasses and plates, an idea taken from sixteenth century Italian recipe books where ‘you may furnish a table, and when you have done, eat them up’.
The exhibition focuses on the eating habits of the upper and middle classes, from the tea-drinking ceremonies of the Georgian period, when only the wealthiest sections of society could afford this most precious drink, to the grand country-house breakfasts of the late Victorian period. To complement the table settings, glass-cased displays of period tableware and a selection of paintings depicting the British at table are also on show. A silver-gilt dinner service from the early nineteenth century reveals the Prince Regent’s eclectic taste as different themes of decoration from Egyptian to neo-classical make up the service. A painting by George Morland ‘The Tea Garden’ c.1790 marks the exact point when tea was no longer the preserve of the rich, and on its way to becoming the British national drink. This touring exhibition is complemented by an audio guide, where actors bring to life the five themed rooms – Feasting and Celebrating, The Great Outdoors, Millennium Picnic, Dinner is Served, The Great British Breakfast and Tea. Location: Assembly House, Theatre Street, Norwich, Specialist prop companies that hire tableware & glassware, period & modern include:
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