Silver Goblet, Peach, White and Red Grapes, and Apple

This early Chardin work of 1726 — a silver goblet with peach, white and red grapes, and an apple — predates his reception into the Académie by two years and already demonstrates the formal intelligence that would define his mature still-life output. The silver goblet provides a reflective, complex surface that summarises in miniature the surrounding environment, testing the painter's ability to describe reflection without recourse to the laborious technique of Flemish silverware painters. Chardin's approach to reflective metals is characteristically restrained: he captures the essential impression rather than itemising every reflected detail. The composition's modest scale and limited number of objects reflect the early stage of Chardin's career, when he had not yet acquired the commissions that would support more ambitious formats. The current location of the work is unconfirmed.

The silver goblet's surface is rendered through a system of warm and cool light passages — reflected colour from the fruit modulates what might otherwise be a merely grey-toned metal. Chardin builds the grapes with small, rounded marks that create convincing clusters, while the peach receives the softened, dragged application he consistently used for velvety stone-fruit surfaces.