This lamp was manufactured after 1869 by the Gaudard firm in Morbier, in the Jura area of France, and the company is still active today. It bears witness to the progress in oil-powered lighting in the second half of the 19th century and was aimed at customers who were fairly financially well-off.

It was in 1894 that the famous violinist and composer from Liège Eugène Ysaÿe (1858-1931) had a house built in Brussels on Avenue Brugmann. For the occasion, he commissioned an entirely furnished workspace from his friend, architect Gustave Serrurier-Bovy. This unique testimony to the encounter between two renowned artists of the late 19th century is now part of the City of Liège’s collections, thanks to a donation by Eugène Ysaÿe’s heirs.

This is not a sauce boat! In spite of its appearance, this fine earthenware item has a completely different function! In fact, it is a ‘bourdaloue’, which is a small portable chamber pot for women that enjoyed its heyday in the 17th and 18th centuries. Discover the object of the month for April and May 2024.

Spa’s springs were already known to the 1st-century AD Latin scholar and author Pliny the Elder but were rediscovered in the middle of the 16th century by Gilbert Fusch, who was a German-born physician and a member of the court of Liège. In 1559, he published a work written in Latin and translated into several languages, under the title “The acidic fountains in the Ardennes Forest and chiefly the one in Spa”. Discover the object of the month for March 2024.

This September, delve into the history of the Grand Curtius collections with our new ‘Object of the Month’. Come and discover the details of this work and its history.