PAIGE O'HARA:
This painting by Alexandre François Desporte depicts the splendid hospitality of an 18th century court banquet, where the interplay between food and music, dance and decoration was designed with a supreme goal: to impress guests.

On the bottom tier, we see enormous silver urns and gold-plated platters. Above, on the second tier, is a tureen with dragon handles, imported blue and white Japanese porcelain, and vessels carved from stone. At the very top, presiding over the festivities, is the marble mask of a satyr, a figure associated with pleasure in Greek mythology. His cheeky grin recalls the character “Lumiere” from Beauty and the Beast.

The porcelain displayed in front, was produced at the Sèvres manufactory, located just outside of Paris. Dishes like these would have graced an aristocratic table of the era.

WOLF BURCHARD:
You have all these different shapes that are elaborately modeled and painted. It’s suggestive of how 18th century tables were animated through porcelain. It’s this idea of ephemeral entertaining and giving your guests joy through food underlined by the way you’re serving it. You’re not serving it in ordinary dishes, but using the most exquisite porcelain that is available, and Sèvres was producing, at the time, the most elaborate porcelain.

PAIGE O'HARA:
During one of the liveliest scenes featured in Beauty and the Beast, the household objects welcome Belle to the castle with a grand meal, as they sing “Be our guest! Be our guest!” reminding her that a French meal is “never second best.”

Thanks to its memorable music, charming characters, and artistic and technical innovation, Beauty and the Beast became a phenomenal success. In 1991 it was the first animated feature film to be nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards, but the roots of some of its inspiration stretch back centuries.