# The Provider \(La Pourvoyeuse\) [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [CHARDIN, Jean-Baptiste-Siméon]() - Date: 1701-1750 - Technique: Oil on canvas, 47 x 38 cm ## Commentary Chardin was one of the greatest of the 18th century, whose genre and still-life subjects documented the life of the Paris bourgeoisie. He favoured simple still-lifes and unsentimental domestic interiors. His muted tones and ability to evoke textures are seen in the Provider, of which he made several versions. The term 'pourvoyeuse' \(provider\) was applied both to the daily provider of a middle-class household, and to a woman who sold her "charms" on the street. It has been suggested that Chardin used his flat as his model in this painting, given that through the first door one can glimpse the Chardin family's copper fountain, which <A onclick="return OpenOther\('/html/c/chardin/1/06drinki.html'\)" HREF="/html/c/chardin/1/06drinki.html">appears in the still-life</A> named after it. ## Related artworks - [A Child with a Teetotum]() - [A "Lean Diet" with Cooking Utensils]() - [A Vase of Flowers]() - [Attributes of Music]() - [Basket of Peaches, with Walnuts, Knife and Glass of Wine]() - [Draughtsman]() - [Fruit, Jug, and a Glass]() - [Game Still-Life with Hunting Dog]() - [Girl with Racket and Shuttlecock]() - [Grapes and Pomegranates]() - ['La Brioche' \(Cake\)]() - [La Gouvernante \(The Governess\)]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()