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Lot Essay
In the 18th Century it was common practice for the upper classes to own one or more gardens. Such gardens varied in size; some stood alone, while others belonged to a residence or summerhouse; some gardens even housed domes or follies.
The Florilegium depicts the flowers of the garden 'Amerika'. This garden was located outside the Koepoort in Leiden and was owned by Isaac van Buren. Van Buren was a law professor at the University of Leiden, churchwarden at the St. Pieterskerk in Leiden and, as this fine flower album attests, an important patron of botanical studies. To catalogue the flowers in his 'Amerika' garden he commissioned the artist Barend Hendrik Thier to paint individual species in watercolour. Thier had studied landscape painting with Pieter Barbiers (1717-1780) and Hendrik Meijer (1737-1793) before settling in Leiden in 1780. Thier had found an important patron in Van Buren. Van Buren is known to have owned a painting by Thier, and a whole series of drawings. A record of Van Buren's collection of Thier drawings remains from a sale in 1942 (sale Utrecht, Van Huffel, 26 June 1942).
Van Buren also asked Nicolaas Meerburg, a noted botanist, gardener and curator of the Botanical Garden of Leiden, to undertake the identification of the species in his garden. Meerburg had published Afbeeldingen van zeldzaame gewassen, Leiden, 1775 (a Latin edition appeared in 1789 as Plantae Rariores vives coloribus depictae, Leiden, 1789) and Plantarum selectarum icons pictae, Leiden, 1789. The fine plates in these works were engraved and hand-coloured by Meerburg himself.
Van Buren's passion for the cultivation of flowers and plants not only brought him into contact with Meerburg but also resulted in his marriage to Meerburg's daughter in 1791. In 1794 he was forced to sell the garden 'Amerika' due to financial difficulties. The young couple moved to the country estate 'Wassergeest' near Lisse.
Of the 110 specimens contained in the published works by Nicolaas Meerburg, 10 also appear in the Van Buren Florilegium. One watercolour by Thier, Ilex crassifolia (no. 91) shows more than a coincidental similarity, though simplified and reversed, to plate 4 in Meerburg's Planatum selectarum. This engraving, like all others in the work, is signed N. Meerburg fec.
Used literature:
Hans Peter Fuchs, 'Nicolaas Meerburg und die drei von ihm verfassten botanischen Tafelwerke', in Acta Botanica Neerlandica II (1962), pp. 69-89.
John Landwehr, Studies in Dutch Books with Coloured Plates published 1662-1875..., The Hague 1976, pp. 137-139, no's 125-127.
E. Pelinck, 'Een bloemisterij en een speeltuin buiten de Koepoort', Leids jaarboekje 53 (1961), pp. 82-90.
R.J.A. te Rijdt & J.W. Niemeijer, 'Barend Hendrik Thier (1743-1811), een kunstenaarsleven tussen natuurobservatie en ateliertraditie', Bulletin van het Rijksmuseum, 49, (2001), pp. 179-205.
Christie's is grateful to Dr. Sam Segal for his kind assistance with this album.
The Florilegium depicts the flowers of the garden 'Amerika'. This garden was located outside the Koepoort in Leiden and was owned by Isaac van Buren. Van Buren was a law professor at the University of Leiden, churchwarden at the St. Pieterskerk in Leiden and, as this fine flower album attests, an important patron of botanical studies. To catalogue the flowers in his 'Amerika' garden he commissioned the artist Barend Hendrik Thier to paint individual species in watercolour. Thier had studied landscape painting with Pieter Barbiers (1717-1780) and Hendrik Meijer (1737-1793) before settling in Leiden in 1780. Thier had found an important patron in Van Buren. Van Buren is known to have owned a painting by Thier, and a whole series of drawings. A record of Van Buren's collection of Thier drawings remains from a sale in 1942 (sale Utrecht, Van Huffel, 26 June 1942).
Van Buren also asked Nicolaas Meerburg, a noted botanist, gardener and curator of the Botanical Garden of Leiden, to undertake the identification of the species in his garden. Meerburg had published Afbeeldingen van zeldzaame gewassen, Leiden, 1775 (a Latin edition appeared in 1789 as Plantae Rariores vives coloribus depictae, Leiden, 1789) and Plantarum selectarum icons pictae, Leiden, 1789. The fine plates in these works were engraved and hand-coloured by Meerburg himself.
Van Buren's passion for the cultivation of flowers and plants not only brought him into contact with Meerburg but also resulted in his marriage to Meerburg's daughter in 1791. In 1794 he was forced to sell the garden 'Amerika' due to financial difficulties. The young couple moved to the country estate 'Wassergeest' near Lisse.
Of the 110 specimens contained in the published works by Nicolaas Meerburg, 10 also appear in the Van Buren Florilegium. One watercolour by Thier, Ilex crassifolia (no. 91) shows more than a coincidental similarity, though simplified and reversed, to plate 4 in Meerburg's Planatum selectarum. This engraving, like all others in the work, is signed N. Meerburg fec.
Used literature:
Hans Peter Fuchs, 'Nicolaas Meerburg und die drei von ihm verfassten botanischen Tafelwerke', in Acta Botanica Neerlandica II (1962), pp. 69-89.
John Landwehr, Studies in Dutch Books with Coloured Plates published 1662-1875..., The Hague 1976, pp. 137-139, no's 125-127.
E. Pelinck, 'Een bloemisterij en een speeltuin buiten de Koepoort', Leids jaarboekje 53 (1961), pp. 82-90.
R.J.A. te Rijdt & J.W. Niemeijer, 'Barend Hendrik Thier (1743-1811), een kunstenaarsleven tussen natuurobservatie en ateliertraditie', Bulletin van het Rijksmuseum, 49, (2001), pp. 179-205.
Christie's is grateful to Dr. Sam Segal for his kind assistance with this album.