Lot Essay
An album with 71 comparable drawings of tulips and shells in the Fondation Custodia, Institut Néerlandais, Paris, bears an inscription 'B.van der Ast' but these drawings are generally attributed to Assteyn. Comparable drawings are in the Fodor Collection, Historisch Museum, Amsterdam; in the Prentenkabinet, Leiden; in the P. & D. de Boer Collection, Amsterdam, while another of comparable size and technique from the Hans van Leeuwen Collection was sold in these Rooms, 24 November 1992, lot 8, illustrated. Three drawings of shells by the same hand were sold in these Rooms, 25 November 1992, lot 626.