Nicolas Lancret, 'A Lady in a Garden having Coffee with Children', probably 1742
About the work
Overview
A wealthy family enjoy coffee beside a fountain. The mother offers a spoon from her cup to her little daughter. The father sits beside them holding the tray while their servant pours coffee from the pot into his cup. The painting is more likely to be a genre scene than a portrait of a particular family as none of the figures shows any awareness of the viewer, as would be usual in a portrait. The painting used to be known as ‘La Tasse de Chocolat’ (‘The Cup of Chocolate’) until it was noticed that the pot is one generally used for serving coffee.
The sentiment the figures display, their solid positioning in space, the compositional balance between the triangle made by the family group and the circular form of the fountain and the play of strong colours across the picture’s surface make this one of Lancret’s most accomplished paintings.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- A Lady in a Garden having Coffee with Children
- Artist
- Nicolas Lancret
- Artist dates
- 1690 - 1743
- Date made
- probably 1742
- Medium and support
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 88.9 × 97.8 cm
- Acquisition credit
- Bequeathed by Sir John Heathcoat Amory, with life interest to Lady Amory by whom presented, 1973
- Inventory number
- NG6422
- Location
- Room 35
- Collection
- Main Collection
- Frame
- 18th-century French Frame (original frame)
Provenance
Additional information
Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Humphrey Wine, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Eighteenth Century French Paintings’, London 2018; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.
Bibliography
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1898E.F.S. Dilke, 'L'art français au Guildhall de Londres en 1898', Gazette des beaux-arts, XX, 1898, pp. 321-36
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1899E.F.S. Dilke, French Painters of the Eighteenth Century, London 1899
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1905Catalogue of Pictures forming the Collection of Lord and Lady Wantage at 2 Carlton Gardens, London, London 1905
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1924G. Wildenstein, Lancret, Paris 1924
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1957Martin Davies, National Gallery Catalogues: French School, 2nd edn (revised), London 1957
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1985M. Wilson, French Paintings before 1800, London 1985
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1991M.T. Holmes, Nicolas Lancret, 1690-1743 (exh. cat. Frick Collection, 19 November 1991 - 12 January 1992; Kimbell Art Museum, 15 February - 12 April 1992), New York 1991
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2001
C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
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2018Wine, Humphrey, National Gallery Catalogues: The Eighteenth Century French Paintings, London 2018
Frame
This French eighteenth-century Louis XV frame is crafted from carved and gilded oak. It features swept outlines with bundled reeds that connect the corner and centre cartouches. On the back edge is a classic cabochon (egg-and-nest) motif. The centre cartouches feature a shell motif. The corner cartouches also feature a shell motif, which is adorned with convex ‘mirrors’. All the cartouches are flanked by ‘queue de cochon’ (curled-leaf) ornaments. The sight edge is decorated with concave rondels, and curves inwards at the corners, over the painting.
Three layers of overgilding, including one of silver leaf, have obscured the frame’s original golden surface and the finely engraved chalk lines. Made for Lancret’s A Lady in a Garden having Coffee with Children, this is considered the original frame for this painting.
About this record
If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.