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Kitchen Utensils with Leeks, Fish, and Eggs
About the Artwork
Chardin was already famous by 1730, when he began to paint small, sparse still lifes of kitchen utensils. He often used the same elements in his compositions, varying slightly the position of the objects and adding or subtracting a utensil—always carefully placing each in relation to the rest to achieve a balanced design. Chardin was the contemporary of François Boucher (1703–1770) and he taught Jean-Honoré Fragonard (1732–1806), but his work is a contrast to theirs, representing the naturalistic tendency that persisted alongside the more fashionable lightness, grace, and playfulness of the Rococo. Chardin discovered a hidden poetry in even the most humble objects, bringing the viewer into an earthly world experienced with directness and simplicity.
Inscriptions
Signed lower right: "Chardin"
Provenance
Possibly until 1922: Probably Baron Maurice Sigismund Sulzbach [1853-1922], Paris, France -1979: Charlotte de Castellan, Comtesse de Forges 1980: (David Carritt, Ltd., London, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) 1980-: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio
Exhibition history
Year in Review: 1980. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (June 24-July 19, 1981). Conserving the Past for the Future. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 4-May 6, 2001). Masterworks from The Phillips Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 20-May 29, 2005).
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Jean-Siméon Chardin (French, 1699–1779)
- Date
- c. 1734
- Medium
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- Framed: 52.5 x 60.5 x 7.5 cm (20 11/16 x 23 13/16 x 2 15/16 in.); Unframed: 32.2 x 40.7 cm (12 11/16 x 16 in.)
- Type
- Painting
- Classification
- Painting
- Department
- European Painting and Sculpture
- Credit line
- Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund
- Accession no.
- 1980.37
More by Jean Siméon Chardin in museum collections
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Open-access museum record · AT-00009272
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