A tulip, an iris, thistles, raspberry brambles, morning glory and other flowers in a glass vase with a lizard and a snail on a ledge in a stone niche

We are very grateful to Mr. Fred Meijer of the RKD for suggesting the attribution, on the basis of photographs, and for his assistance in cataloguing this lot. He notes that the oeuvre of this artist is almost unknown, except for one other floral still life that appeared on the Paris art market in 1991, signed '(N?) VAN Suchtelen fecit 1678'. References to Van Suchtelen can be found in old sale catalogues, but he remains an enigmatic figure. One clue can be found in the close stylistic similarities between these two flower pieces and the pictures of Jacob Rootius (1644-1681). Rootius worked in Hoorn and his paintings were included in the collection of the Hoorn burgomaster, Nicolaes van Suchtelen (1656-1702). Although hypothetical, as Mr. Meijer comments, it would seem plausible to suggest that burgomaster Nicolaes van Suchtelen painted flower pieces in his earlier years, trained by Jacob Rootius.