Jean-Siméon Chardin

With P. & D. Colnaghi, London 1894;
With P. & D. Colnaghi, London, 1986;
Anonymous sale, New York, Christie's, 31 May 1991, lot 18 (with incorrect provenance);
Anonymous sale, New York, Christie's, 14 January 1993, lot 101A (with incorrect provenance);
Anonymous sale, London, Sotheby's, 11 December 1996, lot 311;
With Amells Konsthandel, Stockholm;
By whom anonymously sold, New York, Sotheby's, 23 January 2003, lot 203A;
There purchased by the present owner. 

P. Rosenberg, Chardin, Paris 1999, cat. no. 54E, reproduced, p. 211 (with incorrect provenance indicating a Sotheby's London 1998 sale). 

Canvas is unlined. Picture has been recently lightly cleaned and is in generally healthy state. Various old retouches are scattered beneath the new varnish in the background. These are applied rather well though and are mostly confined to the brown background. A couple tiny new retouches are visible along the onions and poultry. Picture could be hung in it's current state. In a carved gilt wood frame.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Chardin was perhaps the greatest still life painter of the eighteenth century, whose creativity and freedom of expression were nearly unmatched in the century. His popularity in his own lifetime is attested to by the numerous versions of his compositions which are extant. During the 1720s and 1730s Chardin developed more than twenty different still life compositions employing humble kitchen utensils. The greatest of these is the celebrated Ray-Fish of 1726-8, now in the Louvre, and the artist's reception piece for his admission into the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture in September 1728. That Chardin chose to continue to execute this specific composition points to the artist's seeming great affinity for the subject. It is known in nine autograph versions, including those in the North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh (signed and dated 1731); the Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena; the Wadsworth Athenaeum, Hartford; and the Dumbarton Oaks Museum.¹ 

1. For a full list of the accepted versions, as well as a further discussion of the composition, see Literature, Rosenberg 1999, pp. 211-212.