The Butler's Table (The Remains of a Lunch)

In a large French household of the 18th century, cooking and serving were separate departments. The kitchen dealt with fire and meat. The office, run by its own staff, kept the preserves, fruit and pastries, prepared the desserts and looked after the porcelain, glass and linen for the table. This picture belongs to the office. A pâté in its crust, a porcelain tureen, a cruet set for oil and vinegar, jars of preserves and a napkin crowd the table, and at the right a small red lacquered table holds porcelain cups for coffee or chocolate.

Chardin first painted the composition in 1756 as the partner of a kitchen piece, and that first version, shown at the Salon of 1757, is now in the museum at Carcassonne. This is his own repetition, made some years later. The last figure of the date beside his signature is hard to read, and the Louvre takes it, with a question mark, as 1763.