Montauban 1710–1777) A still life with peaches, walnuts and a silver verseuse and a beaker, oil on canvas, 57 x 46 cm, framed We are grateful to Dr. Claudia Salvi for having identified this still life a work by the artist. A report accompanies the present lot. The intimate little dessert assembled in this recently rediscovered work by Jean Valette-Penot depicts a gentleman’s meal, with almost trompe l’oeuil like qualities, which is not overly luxurious but still exudes an air of subtle comfort. From a stylistic point of view the painting can be dated to circa 1760. Bearing in mind that Penot, living in Toulouse and not in Paris, would probably not have depicted a coffee pot of the latest fashion, and that the Verseuse can most probably be dated to the late 1750s, this does also makes sense from an iconographical point of view. Whilst many theories have been published explaining the symbols of a moralizing background in French 18th Century still life painting, the present example is most probably just an assured display of a pleasant, quietly luxurious glimpse into a solitary (for depicted is just one beaker, and the coffee pot is a “Verseuse Egoiste”, intended for one person) moment of repose. Penot received his training as a pupil of Antoine Rivalz at the Académie de peinture de Toulouse and spent, apart from one stint in Rome, his whole career in his native city. Small still lifes in the “gout” of Chardin were in increasingly high demand at the closing years of the ancient régime, and Penot was able to meet this demand. The Marquis de Robien was an important patron. However, only a small number of comparable works have resurfaced, one of these is an equally small scale still life with peaches and nuts, now at the Musée Ingres in Montauban (fig.1).

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