 It is signed in the bottom left hand corner.Chardin was presented to Louis XV at the Palace of Versailles on 27 November 1740 by Philibert Orry, the king's superintendent of buildings and controller general of finances – Chardin's only meeting with the monarch.This was one of two paintings the artist presented to Louis on that occasion; the "Mercure de France" reported that the king "received [the paintings] very favourably; these two little works are already well known, having been exhibited at the Salon in the Louvre last August.