Jean Siméon Chardin (1699-1779) (after) The Serinette. 1753. Engraved by L. Cars. 370x490mm. Bocher 47. Very fine proof on laid paper, carefully washed. Very light foxing. Small oxidized band and slight thinning (old trace of glue) around the verso. Good margins. The original painting was exhibited at the Louvre in 1751, under the title Une dame variant ses amusements. It later appeared at the sale of M. de Vandières, brother of Mme de Pompadour, conducted by Basan in 1782. One version is known to be in a private collection, another in the Frick Collection, New York, and a third in Muncie, Indiana. In November 1753, Le Mercure de France announced the publication of this engraving: "... as large as the original painting, which the public greatly admired at the last Salon. [...] The painter's compositions, though simple and in keeping with the mores of the time, make no claim to the heroic. But the accuracy of the choice and the pleasure of the images present a sharp criticism of Flemish painters in general. Indeed, smoking, fist-fights, bodily needs, in short, nature at its most abject, are the subjects most commonly treated by the Brauwers, the Ostades, the Tenières [sic], and so on. M. Chardin has always steered clear of these humiliating images for humanity. Here, we see a young woman with a touching figure and a simple fit that is both rich and clean. [...] So we can say, without hyperbole, that the model chosen by M. Chardin on this occasion indicates a person attached to her duties, honest, full of gentleness, in short, someone who knows how to keep busy." In this subject, with its Vermeerian ambience and Chardin's unique side lighting, we see a woman turning the crank of a serinette, a small portable cylinder organ, producing a simple melody. The women of the bourgeoisie enjoyed training their caged bird to reproduce this melody - hence the verb "seriner". In front of the woman, a large workbag hangs from an embroidery loom, another leisurely female activity. One wall of the room is decorated with engravings based on works by Charles-Antoine Coypel, First Painter to the King and Director of the Académie, who died in 1752. These include Thalie chassée par la Peinture (1732).