The brightly polished copper, the soft fur of the rabbit, the gnarled chestnuts and the fruit are all faithful imitations of nature. At the same time, the painting is a demonstration of Chardin’s “jerky style”, in which patches of colour are applied unblended, side by side. It was as a still-life painter that Chardin was elected to France’s Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture in 1728. This painting is one of the few he did not make additional versions of.