.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
The present spectacular flower-pyramid or ‘tulipiere’ represents the pinnacle of 17th Century fashion for Dutch Delft ceramics at the court of King William and Queen Mary in England. It also demonstrates the contemporary fascination with horticulture and flower specimens. These elaborate vases were the ultimate status symbol for royal and court figures, reflecting their owners’ cultural, scientific and artistic knowledge and interests. Although made in Holland, the demand for this type of object was more popular in England, and the most elaborate multi-tiered flower receptacles of the present type were largely reserved for King William and Queen Mary and their court, driven by the Queen’s taste and influence. Examples of this type of grand multi-tier flower-vase can still be seen today in the collections at Chatsworth, Hampton Court, Dyrham Park and Castle Howard.
Of the thirty or so factories in Holland producing Delft ceramics, only five are known to have produced these multi-spouted flower vessels – De Grieksche A factory, De Metaale Pot factory, Het Jonge Moriaanshooft, De Drie Posteleyne Astonne and the De Witte Ster factory, which made the current example. Queen Mary sent orders via the architect-designer Daniel Marot for designs for large vases which were to be made in Delft and displayed in the Water Gallery at Hampton Court. An inventory at the palace of Het Loo before 1689 records ‘small pyramids for flowers’ and another at her residence at Honselaarsdijk near The Hague notes ‘two large pyramids of Delft porcelain to place flowers and four small pyramids’. It is notable however that no ‘tulipières’ of the present type are known to be represented in Dutch still-life paintings of the period, despite artist interest in glass and ceramics of the time, indicating that Delft ‘tulipières’ were not as fashionable with Dutch clients, but were very much in demand in aristocratic English circles, due to the influence of Queen Mary there.1 There are two representations of such flower-vases in tapestries of the time in English houses - one at Doddington Priory, and another at Croft Hall.
New and exotic plants fascinated the aristocracy during the time of William and Mary. Gardening and the cultivation of rare plants became a favoured pastime. Professor Pieter Hotton, in his inaugural lecture on 9th May 1695, applied this to Queen Mary: 'And we can safely say that the queen of England herself, the darling of the people, who recently passed away, was closely involved in the study of plants, that she did not deem it beneath her to use the same hand which she held the sceptre to work with the plants'.2 In around 1600 a myriad of flowers from Asia started to make their way across the seas to Europe and by 1680 new methods of cultivation were developed to support exotic varieties of flowers. These flowers were closely studied and recorded in albums and drawings. New varieties of flowers from Turkey, Africa and America found their way into the gardens of Europe.3 One reason for this flourishing activity in the world of horticulture was the profitability of exporting plants from areas controlled by the VOC (Vereenigde Ooost Indische Compagnie, the Dutch United East India Company), where these new varieties became a very lucrative trading commodity. The cultivation of tulips in the Low Countries and the high prices paid for bulbs is now well-documented in the phenomena which has become known as 'tulipomania'. It is for this reason that these vases became incorrectly known as tulipières in the 19th century.
Spouted flower vessels are found in Persia and the Middle East in the late 12th century, then later in France and the Low Countries. Delft flower-vases with spouts could take many forms, most of tureen or basket shape, or small vases to be displayed on fireplaces or tables. The present lot is the result of a full evolution of this design. Forms were developed and became more elaborate obelisks or pyramids, formed of decreasing sections with shallow spouts to each section placed at the bottom of each tier so the flower stems applied to each could reach the water reservoir to the main body. These vases were known in the 17th century as ‘flowerpots with pipes’. The term ‘tulipière’ was popularised during the 19th century, although the main fashion for tulips was largely over by the late 17th century and tastes and interests had moved on to a wider range of flower specimen. As can be seen in the tapestry representations of similar flower-pyramids at Doddington and Croft Hall, many different flower specimens were displayed.
Flower-pyramids were most often nine-tiered, as with the present example. The present lot is decorated with Chinoiserie motifs, including precious objects, flowers and phoenixes. A flower-pyramid with similar decoration and made by the same factory, including precious objects is now held in the Louvre Museum in Paris (OA 4040). This latter example is the largest of the known examples at 178 cm, and includes a square pedestal stand as well as supports formed as sirens or mermaids.4 Other examples are held in the Victoria and Albert Museum collection in London (C.19 to J-1982 and C.96 to J-1981) and in the Rijksmuseum collection (BK-2004-4-A). Examples have been sold Sotheby’s, London, 23 May 2023, lot 30, Sotheby’s, Pairs, 11 December 2019, lot 24, Sotheby’s London, 27 October 2010, lot 90 and Christie's, Amsterdam, 3 December 1991, lot 231.
Flower pyramids or obelisks (or ‘tulipières’) were coveted status symbols for English royal and aristocratic patrons. They emulated sought-after Chinese blue and white porcelain in fashionable Dutch Delft material and provided a means of displaying flowers in an interior, bringing the horticultural interest inside. The present lot is of the most extravagant type of these late 17th century vessels, and would have been the ultimate power and status symbol for its owner.
1. M. Archer, « Pyramids and Pagodas for flowers », in Country Life, January 1976.
2. Hotton 1695, 31, recorded in Marion S. van Aken-Fehmers, et al, Dutch Delftware, a History of a National Product, Vases with Spouts, Three Centuries of Splendor (The Hague, 2007), Vol IX, pp. 53 & 54.
3. D. O. Wijnands, 'Hortus Auriaci: the Gardens of Orange and Their Place in Late 17th-Century Botany and Horticulture', Journal of Garden History, 1998, Vol. VIII, nos. 2 & 3, pp. 64 & 65.
4. See M. S. van Aken-Fehmers (dir.), Vases with spouts, three centuries of Splendour, The Hague, 2007, pp.179-180.
Of the thirty or so factories in Holland producing Delft ceramics, only five are known to have produced these multi-spouted flower vessels – De Grieksche A factory, De Metaale Pot factory, Het Jonge Moriaanshooft, De Drie Posteleyne Astonne and the De Witte Ster factory, which made the current example. Queen Mary sent orders via the architect-designer Daniel Marot for designs for large vases which were to be made in Delft and displayed in the Water Gallery at Hampton Court. An inventory at the palace of Het Loo before 1689 records ‘small pyramids for flowers’ and another at her residence at Honselaarsdijk near The Hague notes ‘two large pyramids of Delft porcelain to place flowers and four small pyramids’. It is notable however that no ‘tulipières’ of the present type are known to be represented in Dutch still-life paintings of the period, despite artist interest in glass and ceramics of the time, indicating that Delft ‘tulipières’ were not as fashionable with Dutch clients, but were very much in demand in aristocratic English circles, due to the influence of Queen Mary there.1 There are two representations of such flower-vases in tapestries of the time in English houses - one at Doddington Priory, and another at Croft Hall.
New and exotic plants fascinated the aristocracy during the time of William and Mary. Gardening and the cultivation of rare plants became a favoured pastime. Professor Pieter Hotton, in his inaugural lecture on 9th May 1695, applied this to Queen Mary: 'And we can safely say that the queen of England herself, the darling of the people, who recently passed away, was closely involved in the study of plants, that she did not deem it beneath her to use the same hand which she held the sceptre to work with the plants'.2 In around 1600 a myriad of flowers from Asia started to make their way across the seas to Europe and by 1680 new methods of cultivation were developed to support exotic varieties of flowers. These flowers were closely studied and recorded in albums and drawings. New varieties of flowers from Turkey, Africa and America found their way into the gardens of Europe.3 One reason for this flourishing activity in the world of horticulture was the profitability of exporting plants from areas controlled by the VOC (Vereenigde Ooost Indische Compagnie, the Dutch United East India Company), where these new varieties became a very lucrative trading commodity. The cultivation of tulips in the Low Countries and the high prices paid for bulbs is now well-documented in the phenomena which has become known as 'tulipomania'. It is for this reason that these vases became incorrectly known as tulipières in the 19th century.
Spouted flower vessels are found in Persia and the Middle East in the late 12th century, then later in France and the Low Countries. Delft flower-vases with spouts could take many forms, most of tureen or basket shape, or small vases to be displayed on fireplaces or tables. The present lot is the result of a full evolution of this design. Forms were developed and became more elaborate obelisks or pyramids, formed of decreasing sections with shallow spouts to each section placed at the bottom of each tier so the flower stems applied to each could reach the water reservoir to the main body. These vases were known in the 17th century as ‘flowerpots with pipes’. The term ‘tulipière’ was popularised during the 19th century, although the main fashion for tulips was largely over by the late 17th century and tastes and interests had moved on to a wider range of flower specimen. As can be seen in the tapestry representations of similar flower-pyramids at Doddington and Croft Hall, many different flower specimens were displayed.
Flower-pyramids were most often nine-tiered, as with the present example. The present lot is decorated with Chinoiserie motifs, including precious objects, flowers and phoenixes. A flower-pyramid with similar decoration and made by the same factory, including precious objects is now held in the Louvre Museum in Paris (OA 4040). This latter example is the largest of the known examples at 178 cm, and includes a square pedestal stand as well as supports formed as sirens or mermaids.4 Other examples are held in the Victoria and Albert Museum collection in London (C.19 to J-1982 and C.96 to J-1981) and in the Rijksmuseum collection (BK-2004-4-A). Examples have been sold Sotheby’s, London, 23 May 2023, lot 30, Sotheby’s, Pairs, 11 December 2019, lot 24, Sotheby’s London, 27 October 2010, lot 90 and Christie's, Amsterdam, 3 December 1991, lot 231.
Flower pyramids or obelisks (or ‘tulipières’) were coveted status symbols for English royal and aristocratic patrons. They emulated sought-after Chinese blue and white porcelain in fashionable Dutch Delft material and provided a means of displaying flowers in an interior, bringing the horticultural interest inside. The present lot is of the most extravagant type of these late 17th century vessels, and would have been the ultimate power and status symbol for its owner.
1. M. Archer, « Pyramids and Pagodas for flowers », in Country Life, January 1976.
2. Hotton 1695, 31, recorded in Marion S. van Aken-Fehmers, et al, Dutch Delftware, a History of a National Product, Vases with Spouts, Three Centuries of Splendor (The Hague, 2007), Vol IX, pp. 53 & 54.
3. D. O. Wijnands, 'Hortus Auriaci: the Gardens of Orange and Their Place in Late 17th-Century Botany and Horticulture', Journal of Garden History, 1998, Vol. VIII, nos. 2 & 3, pp. 64 & 65.
4. See M. S. van Aken-Fehmers (dir.), Vases with spouts, three centuries of Splendour, The Hague, 2007, pp.179-180.