Boxes, a passion of the Belle Epoque

This exhibition presents a private collection of boxes from the last third of the 19th century. Everyday objects as futile as they are useful, these "boxes" tell us surprisingly more than we might imagine about the art of living in France at that time. Beyond their mere aesthetic value, they are part of the external signs of appearance and are, at the same time, the expression of a know-how, the mirror of a way of life and the reflection of a civilization. They reveal the tastes, the occupations, the daily intimacy of a bourgeoisie which enters then of full foot in the consumer society.