CHARDIN, Jean-Baptiste-Siméon
(b. 1699, Paris, d. 1779, Paris)

Still-Life with a White Mug

c. 1764
Oil on canvas, 33 x 41 cm
National Gallery of Art, Washington

This painting is characteristic of Chardin's approach to still-life in the later part of his career. The format is small and intimate. The objects chosen for depiction, at about life size, are comfortably ordinary: a pear, several apples, a knife, and a white porcelain mug, resting on a unadorned stone ledge.