A pink double hollyhock (alcea rosea)

This drawing is by the same hand as an important series of over fifty flower and fruit studies in watercolor at the British Museum (A.M. Hind, Catalogue of Drawings by Dutch and Flemish Artists Preserved in the Department of Prints and Drawings in the British Museum, IV, London, 1931 p. 163, nos. 12-64; C. White, The Flower Drawings of Jan van Huysum, Leigh-on-Sea, 1964, p. 15, nos. 32-84, ill.). Among the studies comparable to the present work are other drawings of hollyhocks (inv. SL,5283.170-SL,5283.172; see White, op. cit. nos. 73-75, ill.). Traditionally attributed to Jan van Huijsum, the most famous member of the Amsterdam family of flower painters, the signature on the drawings also allows attributions to Jan’s father, Justus, or his younger brother, Jacob, but the outlines of their work are not well defined (White, op. cit., p. 15; M. Ellens and S. Segal in De verleiding van Flora. Jan van Huysum, 1682-1749, exhib. cat., Delft, Museum het Prinsenhof, and Museum of Fine Arts Houston, 2006-2007, p. 65). In addition to being an outstanding painter in his chosen genre, Jan was a prolific and gifted draftsman, and the group of studies to which the present work belong were most likely made by him to serve as models for his elaborate painter flower pieces.