Jean Simeon Chardin (1699-1779) was arguably the most talented French painter of the eighteenth century, best known for his original still lifes. Composed of simple, everyday objects, these works glow with warmth and magic, from the dull iron of the kitchen pans, to the glaze of the green earthenware jug or the shining copper of the cauldron. There is no superfluous detail or search for decorative effect; the beauty of his paintings lies in their minimalism. His contemporary, the philosopher Diderot, looking at The Olive Jar exclaimed: 'All you have to do is take these biscuits and eat them ... pick up the glass of wine and drink it ... O Chardin! It's not white, red or black pigment that you crush on your palette: it's the very substance of the objects.'