Exhibitions
- In progress

Orléans, land of potters
2000 years of tradition

from November 5, 2024
to September 21, 2025

AT THE HOTEL CABU

The potter and tile-maker craft has a long and singular history in the Orléans region, based on the exploitation of specific clay beds and evolving know-how adapted to this resource. It also reflects Orléans' economic position since Antiquity, as a major trading center and cultural crossroads. The exhibition Orléans, terre de potiers. 2000 years of traditions invites you to discover this history through the archaeological collections of the Hôtel Cabu - Musée d'Histoire et d'Archéologie, private collections and objects discovered during archaeological operations carried out in the Metropolis over the last few decades by the City of Orléans Archaeological Department.

 

The event is also part of an academic framework, with the TCA and Iceramm networks hosting topical days from November 6 to 8, 2024, reinforcing the historic role of the Centre-Val de Loire region as the cradle of medieval ceramology.

Alberto Ricci

The Orléans region, a land of clay

For 1500 years, the Orléans region has been marked by the production of earthenware vessels and building materials. At the heart of this history are abundant, high-quality raw materials, as well as people - earthenware potters, turners, faience makers, porcelain makers, tile makers, brick makers... who assimilate, adapt, innovate and pass on their traditions and know-how.

 

Archaeology became interested in ceramics very early on, and the continuous evolution of manufacturing methods, shapes and decorations made it possible to chronologically determine the production of a vase, so that it could become a dating tool. The Centre-Val de Loire region, cradle of medieval ceramology in the 1970s, played a major role in the development of the discipline. Since then, the increase in archaeological operations and studies in the metropolis, combined with the evolution of methods, has enabled us to draw up a precise typochronology of ceramics and building materials. The exhibition presents this evolution from Antiquity to the present day.

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