Jean-Siméon Chardin Paris 1699 - 1779

Count Gustav Adolf Sparre (1746-1794), Sahlgrenska huset,
Gothenberg (probably acquired in Paris (1768-1772). Removed to Kulla-Gunnarstorp Estate, Skane probably not later than 1775 and by descent through his wife Countess Amelie, nee Ramel, to their daughter Christina, who married Count Jacob Gustaf de la Gardie, by whom sold along with entire estate in 1837 to Count Carl de Geer of Leufst and by descent to the present owner;
Anonymous sale ("Property from a Private Collection"), New York, Christie's, May 31, 1990, lot 102 (as one of a pair);
Anonymous sale ("Property of a Private Collector"), New York, Christie's, May 26, 2000 lot 67, sold for $886,000. 

Stockholm, Liljevalchs Konsthall, Fransk Konst i Svensk ägo, 1926, no 59;
Gothenburg, Goteborgs Konstmuseum, Stilleben fran tre Jarhundraden, 1938, no 9;
Stockholm, Nationalmuseum, Fem sekler Fransk Konst, August 15- November 9 1958, no 71;
Stockholm, Nationalmuseum, 1700-tal, Tanke och form i Rokonkon, October 5, 1979- January 6, 1980, no 543; Baltimore, Baltimore Museum of Art.

G.A. Sparre's Estate Inventory, Ar 1794 Den 6 Oktober foretogs bouppteckning ofver Farmlidne Grefve Gustaf Axelsson Sparres Efterlamnade Agendom pa Kulla Gunnarstorp Satersgard..., line 17 under Tableau 2 (d:o forestallande atskillige husgeradssaker ('Stilleben", av Chardin) (preserved in Gota Hovratts archive, Jonkoping);
O. Granberg, Nordisk Tidskrift for Vetenskap, Konst och Industri, Studierii Tafvelsamlingen pa Vanas, Fjarde haftet, Stockholm 1885, pp. 319-320;
O. Granberg, Catalogue raisonné des tableaux anciens inconnus jusqu'ici dans les collections privées de la Suede, I, Paris 1886, no. 27;
J. Guiffey, Catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre peint et dessiné de J.B.S. Chardin, Paris 1908, no. 254;
A. Haho, Svenska Slott och Herresten, Skane, Stockholm 1909, p. 82;
H.F.A. Furst, Chardin, London 1911, p. 134;
O. Granberg, Inventaire général des trésors d' Art, peintures et sculptures, principalement de maîtres étrangers en Suède, II, Paris 1913, no. 8;
O. Granberg, Svenska Konstamlingarnas Historia, Fran Gustav wasas tid till vara dagar, III, Stockholm 1931, pp.61 and 70 no. 41;
G. Wildenstein, Chardin, Paris, 1933, no 1003, fig. 164;
E. Goldschmidt, Jean Baptiste Simeon Chardin, Stockholm 1945, pp. 101-102, pl. 39;
G. Wildenstein, Chardin, Zurich 1963, p. 163, no. 137, fig. 59;
Slott och Herresaten i Sverige, Skane, III, Stockholm 1966, p. 343;
J. Hasselgren, Konstsamlaren Gustaf Adolf Sparre, 1746-1794, Stockholm 1974, p. 124, reproduced and pp. 166 and 197;
P. Rosenberg, Chardin, Paris, Grand Palais; Cleveland, The Cleveland Museum of Art and Boston, The Museum of Fine Art, 1979, pp. 168-169, under no. 40, reproduced.
P. Rosenberg, Tout l'oeuvre peint de Chardin, Paris 1983, no. 74A;
A. Chong, European and American Painting in the Cleveland Museum of Art, A Summary Catalogue, Cleveland 1993, p. 35;
P. Rosenberg and R. Temperini, Chardin, Paris 1999, p. 219, no. 75A.

This painting was most likely purchased directly from Chardin by the eminent Swedish collector Count Gustav Adolf Sparre (1746-1794), who had been studying in Paris between 1768 and 1772. During his time in Paris the Count also bought two other works by Chardin, both genre scenes, The Drawing Lesson, now in the Fuji Art Museum, Tokyo and The Right Education, now in the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.  The two genre pictures were probably acquired not directly from Chardin, but rather from the great French collector La Live de Jully.  In 1837, Count Carl de Geer bought the entire painting collection of Count Gustav Adolf Sparre directly from his daughter.  Count de Geer then gave his paintings collection to his granddaughter as a gift for her marriage in 1855 to the Count Axel Fredrik Wachtmeister. The Chardins, as well as the rest of the painting and furniture collection, remained in Wanas Castle until 1982, when Count Axel Fredrik Wachmeister's grandson, Count Wilhelm Wachtmeister, the former Swedish Ambassador and Dean of the Diplomatic Corps in Washington, brought them to the United States.

The present lot was paired in the Sparre Collection with another still life by Chardin (sold, Christie's New York, October 21, 1997, lot 130 for $666,500; see Literature below, Rosenberg 1983, no 73A). The two were not necessarily conceived as pendants but were probably executed the same year, 1734.  Only the present lot is signed and dated.   Another version of the same painting, signed but not dated, is in the Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio.