Jean Siméon Chardin
The Buffet
From $80
This painting is terracotta, cream and earth brown, and a cheap copy flattens the light. Our Chardin Kitchen Maid print was graded from a high-resolution master so the apron, the copper and the turnips stay soft and clear.
Canvas, framed or paper
Stretched canvas. Printed on cotton canvas and stretched taut over a frame. The edges are mirror-wrapped, so the picture continues around the sides and none of it is lost to the fold.
Framed canvas. The same canvas, set in a black, white, natural wood or dark wood frame 0.83 in deep. The frame gives the work a finished edge and a little more presence on the wall.
Framed print. Printed on fine art matte paper and framed in solid pine, behind shatterproof plexiglass, in black, white, natural wood or dark wood. It arrives ready to hang. Framed sizes are measured on the outside of the frame.
Fine art print. Printed on 310gsm fine art matte paper, for framing your own way. It travels rolled and protected. From 18x24 inch.
Sizes
16x20 inch, 24x30 inch, 32x40 inch. Framed sizes are measured on the outside of the frame, so the visible painting is a little smaller.
On your wall
Its tall shape suits a study, a hallway or a living room wall. The earth browns and terracottas look rich with cream, slate and walnut, and a natural oak or dark walnut frame suits it.
About the painting
The Kitchen Maid by Jean Siméon Chardin
A pause
A young kitchen maid sits on a low chair, a turnip in one hand and a knife in the other, and looks away, lost in thought. Chardin signed and dated it 1738.
Everyday things
Around her: vegetables, cooking pots and a butcher’s block with a cleaver. At the Salon of 1739 it was shown as The Turnip Scraper. He painted several versions.
Proust’s turnips
Marcel Proust wrote of the beauty Chardin found in everyday tasks “like peeling turnips”. This version hangs in the National Gallery of Art in Washington.
Read the story
A young kitchen maid sits on a low chair. In one hand she holds a turnip, in the other a knife. But she has stopped working. She looks away, lost in her own thoughts.
Around her are the things of her day: a pile of vegetables, copper pots, a big butcher's block with a cleaver stuck in it.
Jean Siméon Chardin painted her in Paris in 1738, and signed and dated it in the middle of the picture. The next year he showed it at the Salon as The Turnip Scraper. It was so popular that he painted several versions.
Chardin never tells us what she is thinking. That is the point. He liked to paint people in a pause, a moment between one task and the next, and to let us wonder.
More than a century and a half later, the writer Marcel Proust told his readers to go and look at Chardin's pictures in the Louvre, and see the beauty he had found in ordinary things, even in peeling turnips.
This version was bought from Chardin by Prince Joseph Wenzel of Liechtenstein, and stayed with his family for two centuries. It now hangs in the National Gallery of Art in Washington.
The Kitchen Maid. Jean Siméon Chardin, 1738.
How each piece is brought to life
Faithful to the original, and made to be felt on your wall.
Graded against the original
We compare every work with the original as we grade it, keeping the artist’s colours true while bringing back their depth and glow. Every mark stays the artist’s own.
Printed for you
Printed to order on cotton canvas or fine art paper, then framed if you chose a frame, in 1 to 3 business days.
On your wall
It arrives 5 to 12 business days later, tracked and free anywhere in the US. Framed pieces come ready to hang.
Questions
Is this the original painting?
No. The original hangs in a museum. What you receive is a fine art reproduction, remastered from the original and printed for you, with every mark where the artist left it.
Will the colour look flat?
This is where most reproductions disappoint, and it is where we spend the most time. Each work is graded side by side with the original: faithful to the artist’s colours, with the depth and warmth brought back, so it moves you on the wall the way it was meant to. Canvas reads a touch softer than a backlit screen, and every screen shows colour a little differently.
Will the edges be cropped?
Each size is a standard frame size, so we fit the painting by trimming a little from its edges. We never stretch or squash it, and we check every size by eye so no face, figure or signature is cut. On canvas the edges are mirror-wrapped, which keeps the whole picture on the front.
Which size is right for my wall?
Aim for about two-thirds the width of the furniture beneath it. Over a sofa or a sideboard, one of the two largest sizes will hold the wall. The size guide lists every size in inches and centimetres, with the kind of wall each one suits.
How long does it take?
Your piece is printed in 1–3 business days, then spends 5–12 business days in transit, tracked all the way. Delivery is free anywhere in the US. We are unable to deliver to PO boxes.
What if it arrives damaged?
Send us a photograph and we will remake it and send it again. There is nothing to return.
Can I return it?
Yes, within 30 days of delivery. Our returns policy has the details.
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Printed to order
Graded against the original, then printed for you on cotton canvas or fine art paper in 1–3 business days.
The whole painting
Every mark is the artist’s own, and canvas edges are mirror-wrapped so the whole picture stays on the front.
Free US shipping
On every order, tracked, 5–12 business days in transit.
30-day returns
Returns and exchanges within 30 days of delivery.
