Kitchen Utensils with Leeks, Fish, and Eggs

Chardin repeatedly used familiar kitchen objects, changing their positions and the food placed beside them. Already successful by 1730, he began painting small, restrained still lifes. Repeated objects let him test compositional balance. His work developed alongside the more elaborate courtly culture of Rococo.

A copper pot stands at the center. Warm reflections distinguish its metal surface from the surrounding cloth and vessels.

A pale cloth falls over the table edge. Its folds extend the arrangement below the level on which the objects stand.

A narrow bottle rises vertically. Its height changes the relationship among the neighboring broad, low objects.

Eggs rest beside the cloth. Their rounded pale surfaces differ from the soft folds despite their similar colors.

A dark vessel stands near the front edge. Its position nearer the viewer helps distinguish the arrangement's different levels.

Chardin won recognition at the Royal Academy's Salons for still lifes and domestic scenes. He taught Fragonard, whose painting developed differently. These objects belong to the kitchen utensils Chardin repeatedly used in his work.