Attributed to Henri-Horace Roland de la Porte

Mrs Marshall Field III, New York;
By whose Estate sold, New York, Christie's, 6 October 1994, lot 171, where acquired by the present owner.

Pittsburgh, Carnegie Institute, French Painting: 1100-1900, 18 October - 2 December 1951.

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com , an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This painting has an old glue lining but the surface is still stable and although the texture is fairly noticeable, it is not disturbing. The paint layer is most likely dirty, although it is attractive in its current condition. Under ultraviolet light one can see tiny retouches addressing slight thinness to the paint layer in the lampshade, in the upper background and again in the background beneath the lampshade. Similarly across the bottom edge there are losses in the side of the table which have also been retouched. One could revisit this picture but at the same time it looks very well as is.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

An accomplished still-life painter and a pupil of Jean-Baptiste Oudry, Henri-Horace Roland de la Porte was accepted into the Académie Royale in 1761. The simple arrangement of objects and the muted, almost monochrome palette of this canvas are characteristic of the artist's later work in which his approach to still life became more intimate and immediate. The artist has perfectly captured the way the soft light, which filters in from the left, gleams off the base of the bouillette lamp and shimmers softly off the surface of the crisp white satin cloth that covers most of the rest of the composition. The very top of an instrument, possibly a cittern (a stringed instrument similar to a guitar), peeks out from under the cloth in the centre of the composition, while the only other items represented are the pages of sheet music which are propped up on an unseen music stand. The music book, entitled Recueil [d'A]riettes [de...] Auteurs [avec accompa]gnement de Cistre, and the music for the duet "De Florime" are typical of the types of sheet music that were published in Paris and elsewhere in the 1760s and '70s; and although the cittern was a slightly antiquated instrument by this time, music was still published for it into the late 18th century.  In 1771, for example, a very similar collection entitled Premier Recueil d'ariettes, menuets et allemandes arranges pour le cistre ou guittare allemande..., was published in Lille. 

When this work was last sold in 1994 it was described as a fragment. Although it does appear that the canvas was trimmed when it was relined, it is difficult to determine how much, if any, of the composition was lost during this process.  The simplicity and starkness of this painting recall Chardin, and indeed, the two artists shared an interest in naturalism and in the celebration of rustic and unadorned objects. 

An alternate attribution to Thomas-Germain Duvivier (1735-1814) has also been suggested.