Matieres de Reves: Stuff of Dreams introduces its audiences to the aesthetic potential of utilitarian objects created between the Middle Ages and the present. Each of the works selected for this catalogue surpasses all standards of tradition, craftsmanship and utility. A latent surrealistic element links the variety of rich, elegant, elaborate, sometimes curious and always sensuous works of art. In addition, most of the objects carry with them fascinating stories about their origins, their makers and those persons who commissioned, collected, used or loved them. The selected masterpieces, representing eight centuries of assiduous artistry and craftsmanship - including furniture, jewellery, sculpture, ceramics and glass - are all drawn from the encyclopaedic collections of the Musee des Arts Decoratifs in Paris. A private and independent museum occupying a wing of the Palace of the Louvre, the Musee des Arts Decoratifs was founded in 1864 under the auspices of l'Union Centrale des Arts Decoratifs by an alliance of industrialists, artists, and passionate collectors. Since its inception, the Musee's collections, now numbering over 200,000 objects, have celebrated the consonance of artists and industry and the merging of art and utility.