Artwork
The Silver Tureen
The Silver Tureen is an oil painting by the Rococo painting artist Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin. It dates from 1730 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The inclusion of the cat adds a layer of psychological immediacy, transforming a standard inventory of objects into a moment of suspended action.
Executed circa 1728 to 1730, this still life centers on a silver tureen surrounded by an arrangement of fruit. The composition includes a dead partridge and a hare, which serve as the focal point for a cat positioned in the lower left corner. The feline gazes at the game birds with evident desire, introducing a narrative element of predatory instinct into the static scene.
By depicting dead game alongside fresh produce and domestic silverware, the work illustrates the abundance of the kitchen while subtly referencing the tension between life and death inherent in the hunt. The inclusion of the cat adds a layer of psychological immediacy, transforming a standard inventory of objects into a moment of suspended action.
Technique & Style
The Silver Tureen is an oil‑on‑canvas painting executed in the early 1730s. Chardin employed oil paint on a rectangular canvas, a support noted in the work’s technical data, and rendered a still‑life arrangement centered on a polished silver soup tureen surrounded by fruit, a partridge, a hare and a cat, as described in contemporary accounts. The composition balances chiaroscuro lighting with a tight spatial framing, emphasizing texture and material realism.
The painting, catalogued as a still‑life genre work, has been part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s collection since 1959, where it is preserved under standard museum conditions.
History & Provenance
The Silver Tureen, an oil-on-canvas still life by Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin, was created circa 1728–1730. The work depicts a silver soup tureen surrounded by fruit, a dead partridge, a rabbit, and a cat. Following its creation, the painting entered the collection of Laurent Laperlier before passing to Henri de Rothschild and subsequently to Nadine Charlotte Rothschild. In 1959, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York acquired the piece, where it remains part of the permanent collection today.
The dating of the work is generally accepted as 1730, though some sources suggest a range beginning in 1728.
The Silver Tureen is held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, where it was acquired in 1959. Earlier in its provenance, the painting was owned by Nadine Charlotte Rothschild and Henri de Rothschild, and before that by Laurent Laperlier. The work was discussed in a 1960 issue of The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin (vol.
18, no. 6), in an article by Colin Eisler titled "A Chardin in the Grand Manner," published on pp. 202–212, which constitutes its principal documented exhibition-related publication. The canvas measures 76.2 × 108 cm.
Context
Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin's The Silver Tureen, executed circa 1728–1730, is recognized as a significant example of French still life painting from the early eighteenth century. The work's art-historical importance was highlighted in 1960 when Colin Eisler published an analysis titled 'A Chardin in the Grand Manner' in the Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, suggesting the piece elevates the genre through its composition and treatment of light. Currently housed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the painting has been the subject of scholarly attention regarding its depiction of everyday objects, such as the silver tureen, game, and fruit.
Its acquisition by the museum in 1959 solidified its status within a major public collection, allowing for continued study of Chardin's contribution to the development of still life as a respected artistic category during the Enlightenment era.
Overview
This oil painting, titled The Silver Tureen, presents a carefully arranged still life composition. It features a dead rabbit, a prominent silver tureen, and a watchful cat, alongside various fruits and nuts. The artwork emphasizes a quiet intensity through its focused depiction of these disparate elements, inviting contemplation of domestic subjects and the transient nature of life.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Jean Siméon Chardin (French:; November 2, 1699 – December 6, 1779) was an 18th-century French painter.
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