Coffee, Tea, and Chocolate: A Sensory Exhibit

"Bitter|Sweet: Coffee, Tea & Chocolate" was an exhibition at the Detroit Institute of Arts in 2016-2017. Since the DIA can't let us have such great experiences this year, and I miss art museums desperately, I'm taking this opportunity to repeat some of my material about the exhibit (post here).  

"Bitter|Sweet" offered excitement to all five senses, not just the usual museum-goers' activity of seeing art. As we toured the exhibit, we looked at maps and historic information. We viewed a wide variety of paintings, prints, artifacts, and tableware related to the three beverages. We smelled some coffee beans in one display. We listened to the background music: Bach's Coffee Cantata. And in the final gallery we enjoyed tasting some historic chocolate concoctions.

This post is shared with Elizabeth and her Tuesday blog event featuring beverages.  © 2016, 2020 mae sander for mae food dot blog spot dot com. Let's hope we can really see art work in 2021!

First, a painting of Madame de Pompadour and her servant. The painting depicts two women with different levels of power; each have their hands on a cup of coffee, which was a new luxury product associated with the Turkish Empire. The picture was labeled: "On the left, an African woman serving coffee is a reminder of two colonial commodities: coffee and enslaved people." The exhibit had quite a few things to say about the role of slavery and colonialism in the rise of the three beverages.

"Madame de Pompadour as a Sultana," 

A coffee grinder that once belonged to Madame de Pompadour.

A porcelain sultan riding an elephant, and a little Turkish coffee cup.

A bust of Joseph Addison whose newspaper, I learned, was one of the influences
encouraging English people to consume coffee.

"The Strong Family," (1732, detail showing tea table)

The exhibit included several wall-sized maps showing coffee, tea, and chocolate production areas.

An amazing Sèvres tea and coffee service (1842-43)