Nicolas Henry Jeurat de Bertry (Paris 1728-after 1796)

At one time ascribed to Chardin, this still life has been recognised by Fabrice Faré as a work of the still life artist Nicolas Henry Jeaurat de Bertry. Born in Paris, the artist studied with his uncle, Etienne Jeaurat (1699-1789). Somewhat unusually, he was nominated and accepted for membership in the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture on the same day, 31 January 1756. His dipolma pieces were two still lifes, one depicting kitchen implements (Paris, École des Beaux-Arts) and the other military trophies (Château de Fontainebleau). During his long career, Jeaurat de Bertry received considerable recognition. By 1761, he was named painter to Marie Leczinska and set up residence at Versailles. After the queen's death in 1768, he returned to Paris and remained there - save for a second four-year sojourn at Versailles - for the remainder of his life. During the French Revolution, Jeaurat appears to have concentrated on portraiture, some of a veiled, satirical nature.

A still life of similar facture and size, also entitled Table de cuisine, was recorded in M. and F. Faré, La Vie silencieuse en France: la nature morte au XVIIIe siècle, Paris and Fribourg, 1976, p. 196, fig. 295.