Lunchbreak Collection

The Harvesters, 1565. Creator: Pieter Bruegel the Elder
The Harvesters, 1565

Lunch in China, c.1910 (print)
7293345 Lunch in China, c.1910 (print); (add.info.: Food and beverage. A lunch in China. Imagery in: Histoire anecdotique de l'alimentation, France, ca 1910.); Photo: © Archives Charmet

Japanese general Nogi Maresuke and his staff taking lunch, Port Arthur, Russo-Japanese War, 1904 (b/w photo)
8655527 Japanese general Nogi Maresuke and his staff taking lunch, Port Arthur, Russo-Japanese War, 1904 (b/w photo) by American Photographer

Restaurant customer impatient for his meal (chromolitho)
8677804 Restaurant customer impatient for his meal (chromolitho) by French School, (19th century) (after); Private Collection; (add.info.: Restaurant customer impatient for his meal)

Lofthouse Park Camp: After Lunch, Walking in the Garden (b/w photo)
8670231 Lofthouse Park Camp: After Lunch, Walking in the Garden (b/w photo) by English Photographer, (20th century); Private Collection; (add.info.: After Lunch, Walking in the Garden)

New Zealand, 1890s: After Lunch (b/w photo)
8662701 New Zealand, 1890s: After Lunch (b/w photo) by New Zealand Photographer, (19th century); Private Collection; (add.info.: After Lunch)

U.S. Soldiers lunching at Citroen Munitions factory. August 1918 (b/w photo)
UIG5446713 U.S. Soldiers lunching at Citroen Munitions factory. August 1918 (b/w photo)

The wheat, c. 1900 (chromo)
1790171 The wheat, c. 1900 (chromo); (add.info.: the wheat : from the harvest to the bread, in France early 20th century); Photo © CCI

A gaucho roasting a piece of beef (b/w photo)
8635674 A gaucho roasting a piece of beef (b/w photo) by English Photographer, (20th century); Private Collection; (add.info.: A gaucho roasting a piece of beef)

Bill from the Red Horse Hotel, Stratford-upon-Avon (engraving)
8677652 Bill from the Red Horse Hotel, Stratford-upon-Avon (engraving) by English School, (19th century); Private Collection; (add.info.: Bill for lunch at the Red Horse Hotel, Stratford-upon-Avon)

The Land of Freedom (litho)
8663502 The Land of Freedom (litho) by Poy (Percy Hutton Fearon) (1874-1945); Private Collection; (add.info.: The Land of Freedom)

Serviettes: The Lunch (b/w photo)
8643669 Serviettes: The Lunch (b/w photo) by English Photographer, (20th century); Private Collection; (add.info.: The Lunch)

Tendency among Business-men to believe in doing Business over Lunch (litho)
8630575 Tendency among Business-men to believe in doing Business over Lunch (litho) by Pont (Graham Laidler) (1908-40); Private Collection; (add.info)

Louis XV, King of France (coloured engraving)
8672814 Louis XV, King of France (coloured engraving) by Robida, Albert (1848-1926); Private Collection; (add.info.: Louis XV, King of France: the royal lunch)

Lunch in Fleet Street, London (b/w photo)
8676177 Lunch in Fleet Street, London (b/w photo) by English Photographer, (20th century); Private Collection; (add.info.: Lunch in Fleet Street, London)

The staff of Punch at table, 1895 (b/w photo)
8675767 The staff of Punch at table, 1895 (b/w photo) by English photographer, (19th century) (after); Private Collection; (add.info.: The staff of Punch at table, 1895)

Charcoal colliers, Sussex (b/w photo)
8676034 Charcoal colliers, Sussex (b/w photo) by English Photographer, (20th century); Private Collection; (add.info.: Charcoal colliers, Sussex)

A mother feeding her toddler in a high chair, 1850
3478202 A mother feeding her toddler in a high chair, 1850; (add.info.: Illustration depicting a mother feeding her toddler in a high chair. Illustrated by Miriam Kerns)

An Artistic Centre Buffet in the "Rose du Barry" Restaurant, Hotel Cecil, London (b/w photo)
8628322 An Artistic Centre Buffet in the "Rose du Barry" Restaurant, Hotel Cecil, London (b/w photo) by English Photographer

A Royal Table Spread in the Jungle (b/w photo)
8628318 A Royal Table Spread in the Jungle (b/w photo) by English Photographer, (20th century); Private Collection; (add.info.: A Royal Table Spread in the Jungle)

Knife, Knock, Lance, Latch, Lathe, Learn, Lunch, Match, Moose, Mount, Mount, Mourn (engraving)
8650017 Knife, Knock, Lance, Latch, Lathe, Learn, Lunch, Match, Moose, Mount, Mount, Mourn (engraving) by German School, (19th century) (after); Private Collection; (add.info.: Knife, Knock, Lance)

Restaurant customer toasting the chef (chromolitho)
8677762 Restaurant customer toasting the chef (chromolitho) by French School, (19th century) (after); Private Collection; (add.info.: Restaurant customer toasting the chef)

Hop-pickers Resting - drawn by Phiz, 1858. Creator: Hablot Knight Browne
Hop-pickers Resting - drawn by Phiz, 1858. Seasonal farm workers. Here meet together the respectable poor and the disreputable poor, the honest labourer and the thief (doing honest work now)

The Prince of Wales in the Terai: Tiffin in the Jungle...1876. Creator: C.R
The Prince of Wales in the Terai: Tiffin in the Jungle, from a sketch by one of our special artists, 1876. The future King Edward VII in...the Terai, or forest wilderness, on the frontier of Nepaul

Lunchtime at the Building Site on the Van Diemenstraat in Amsterdam, 1897. Creator: George Hendrik Breitner
Lunchtime at the Building Site on the Van Diemenstraat in Amsterdam, 1897. Other Title(s): Midday Break at the Building Site on the Van Diemenstraat, Amsterdam

"The Mid-Day Meal" - painted by H. B. Willis - from the Exhibition of the National Institution, 1856. Engraving of a painting. "The Mid-day Meal" of Mr

Le déjeuner du patron; le sixiéme clerc prenant sa pitance, 19th century. Creator: Honore Daumier
Le dejeuner du patron; le sixieme clerc prenant sa pitance, 19th century. The boss's lunch; the sixth clerk taking his feed [at his desk]

La vie simple, 1904. Creator: Pierre Andre Brouillet
La vie simple, 1904. The simple life

Sketch for the salle des mariages of the town hall in the 14th arrondissement...1889. Creator: Adrien-Henri Tanoux
Sketch for the salle des mariages (wedding hall) of the town hall in the 14th arrondissement, Paris : Maternite, 1889. Motherhood, rest during harvest, family

Council of National Defense Headquarters Under Construction, 1917. Creator: Harris & Ewing
Council of National Defense Headquarters Under Construction, Washington DC, 1917. African American workers on flat-bed truck

Cotton hoers leaving the fields for lunch, Georgia, 1937. Creator: Dorothea Lange
Cotton hoers leaving the fields for lunch. Farmer's daughter and laborers, whites and blacks. Georgia

Migrant cotton pickers at lunchtime, near Radstown, Texas, 1936. Creator: Dorothea Lange
Migrant cotton pickers at lunchtime. Near Radstown, Texas

Cotton pickers lunchtime, near Corpus Christi, Texas, 1936. Creator: Dorothea Lange
Cotton pickers lunchtime. Near Corpus Christi, Texas

Longshoremen's lunch hour, San Francisco waterfront, California, 1937. Creator: Dorothea Lange
Longshoremen's lunch hour. San Francisco waterfront. California

Lunchtime for cotton hoers, Mississippi Delta, 1937. Creator: Dorothea Lange
Lunchtime for cotton hoers. Mississippi Delta

Lunchtime for the peach pickers, Muscella, Georgia, 1936. Creator: Dorothea Lange
Lunchtime for the peach pickers. Muscella, Georgia

Georgia peach pickers eating, Muscella, Georgia, 1936. Creator: Dorothea Lange
Georgia peach pickers eating. Muscella, Georgia

Lunchtime for these Georgia peach pickers, Muscella, Georgia, 1936. Creator: Dorothea Lange
Lunchtime for these Georgia peach pickers. They earn seventy-five cents a day in the orchards. Muscella, Georgia

Background for Hightstown project photographs, Seventh Avenue and West 28th Street, New York, 1936
Background for Hightstown project photographs. Seventh Avenue and West 28th Street, New York. Garment workers leave the factories for noon hour. [Street vendor selling razor blades]

Peach picker, Muscella, Georgia, 1936. Creator: Dorothea Lange
Peach picker. Muscella, Georgia

The First of September - the Luncheon - drawn by Duncan, 1850. Creator: Unknown
The First of September - the Luncheon - drawn by Duncan, 1850. A shooting party, resting from a grateful toil, has betaken itself to the russet shelter of an ancient beech

Exiled Convicts Having Lunch near Their Huts during Work in the Taiga, 1880-1899. From an album created on Sakhalin Island in the 1890s

"The Fair Haymaker", by G. E. Hicks, in Morby's Collection, Cornhill, 1862. Creator: W Thomas
"The Fair Haymaker", by G. E. Hicks, in Morby's Collection, Cornhill, 1862. Engraving of a painting. The sun has crept round

Lunchtime brings a few minutes of rest... Douglas Aircraft Companys plant, Long Beach, Calif
Lunchtime brings a few minutes of rest for these women workers of the assembly line at Douglas Aircraft Companys plant, Long Beach, Calif

Girl worker at lunch also absorbing Calif... Douglas Aircraft Company, Long Beach, Calif. 1942
Girl worker at lunch also absorbing California sunshine, Douglas Aircraft Company, Long Beach, Calif

A noontime rest for a full-fledged... Long Beach, Calif. plant of Douglas Aircraft Company, 1942
A noontime rest for a full-fledged assembly worker at the Long Beach, Calif. plant of Douglas Aircraft Company. Nacelle parts for a heavy bomber form the background

Two assembly line workers at the Long Beach, Calif. plant of Douglas Aircraft Company... 1942. Creator: Alfred T Palmer
Two assembly line workers at the Long Beach, Calif. plant of Douglas Aircraft Company enjoy a well-earned lunch period, Long Beach, Calif. Nacelle parts of a heavy bomber form the background

C. & N. W. R. R. Mrs. Elibia Siematter, employed as a sweeper at the roundhouse, Clinton, Iowa, 1943
C. & N.W. R.R. Mrs. Elibia Siematter, employed as a sweeper at the roundhouse, Clinton, Iowa

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"Lunchbreak: A Moment of Respite in the Tapestry of Life" In Pieter Bruegel the Elder's masterpiece, "The Harvesters" (1565), we witness a scene where laborers take a pause from their toil under the scorching sun. The canvas captures the essence of lunchtime, as weary workers gather together to replenish their strength and share stories amidst golden fields. Fast forward to 1886, when "The Funeral Meal" portrays another kind of lunch break - one tinged with sorrow. As mourners gather around a table after bidding farewell to a loved one, they find solace in nourishment and each other's company. Moving into the industrial era, Alfred T Palmer's photographs from Douglas Aircraft Company in Long Beach, California (1942) reveal lunchtime rituals within bustling factories. Here, girl workers absorb moments of respite while fueling themselves for continued productivity. In these images lies an unspoken camaraderie among assembly line workers who momentarily escape the mechanical humdrum. Meanwhile, Jack Delano's lens transports us to Clinton, Iowa (1943), where Mrs. Elibia Siematter sweeps at C&NWRR roundhouse during her midday break. Alongside her fellow women wipers enjoying their meals nearby, they form a tight-knit community that finds comfort even amid challenging working conditions. Gordon Parks' photograph takes us further into Washington D. C. 's waterfront restaurant (1942), revealing unseen faces behind kitchen doors. Amidst steam and sizzling pans stands an anonymous dishwasher taking respite before plunging back into culinary chaos. Dorothea Lange captures poignant scenes during Depression-era America - pea field workers finding sustenance near Calipatria (1939) or New England fishermen aboard their ship at Fulton fish market in New York City (1943). These snapshots remind us that even amidst hardship and uncertainty there is a need for nourishment and moments of respite.