Le chateau de carte (The house of cards)

Pierre Filloeul (1696-after 1754), well-known for his engravings after Jean-Baptiste Pater's amorous Rococo scenes that relate closely to the still more famous equivalents by Antoine Watteau, also engraved four works by the more moral and restrained French 18th century artist Jean-Siméon Chardin.  <em>The house of cards </em>is based on the first of four such paintings by Chardin (National Trust, Waddesdon Manor, England), and is much admired for its sense of self-contained stillness; it stimulates us to consider the whole nature of attention, whether it is the painter to his subjects, or to ourselves. The highly skilled printmakers of Chardin's time (the same painting was also engraved by Francois-Bernard Lépicié ) enjoyed a high reputation in their own right, and of course helped make the unique painting far more accessible, boosting Chardin's reputation in turn.

In the painting and this print, a young adolescent is wearing an apron, indicating that he is a servant or apprentice. The playing cards and gambling counters scattered on the table indicate that a game of cards has finished. Sent to clear up after the adults, he instead allows himself to be innocently distracted by his game.

Any representation of a house of cards in art symbolises the fragility of life, and prints after the this painting contain moralising inscriptions telling us not to mock the foolish pastime, for we too build castles in the air. The one here freely translates as follows:

You're wrong to mock this adolescent/ And his useless construction/ Ready to fall with the slightest gust of wind./ Old men, at the age when you should be wise/ Far more ridiculous constructions often come out of your heads!

The author is unknown but was probably a well-educated friend of Chardin. 

See:

Richard Dorment, 'Taking Time', Telegraph, 26 March 2012, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/art-reviews/9167625/Taking-Time-Chardins-Boy-Building-a-Ho use-of-Cards-Chardins-playing-cards-trick-review.html

'Work, rest & play: Women and children in prints after Chardin', Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, 2011-12, http://www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/sites/default/files/chardin_handlist.pdf

Dr Mark Stocker    Curator, Historical International Art    July 2017