Flower or Tulip Vase
Flower or Tulip Vase, about 1693
De Griexe A factory (The "Greek A" factory), Period of Adriaen Kocks
tin-glazed earthenware (Delft) 12 1/2 × 12 1/2 × 10 1/4 in. (Birmingham Museum of Art)
Museum description: "This 17th-century, blue and white, glazed earthenware vessel with two applied handles and applied spouts was made to hold tulips or other flowers. Tulips were introduced to Europe from Turkey in the 16th century. Once it became known that tulip bulbs could tolerate the harsher weather conditions of the Low Countries, the tulip grew in popularity. Its saturated colors made it unlike any other plant and it soon became a status symbol and thus a coveted luxury item. Prices for tulips reached an extraordinary high during this period, and then collapsed suddenly in 1637. This 'tulipmania' is generally considered the first recorded economic 'bubble.'
This vase relates closely in both form and decoration to an example in the Het Loo palace collection in Apeldoorn, Netherlands, as well as to two examples at Schloss Favorite near Rastatt, Germany. The Schloss Favorite vases are believed to be part of a group of objects given in London by William and Mary, rulers of England, Ireland, and Scotland from 1689 to 1702, to the Markgraf Ludwig Wilhelm von Baden-Baden during the winter of 1693-1694. Ludwig Wilhelm brought the vases back to Germany for his wife Sibylla Augusta, an avid ceramics collector."
Flower or Tulip Vase
Flower or Tulip Vase, about 1693
De Griexe A factory (The "Greek A" factory), Period of Adriaen Kocks
tin-glazed earthenware (Delft) 12 1/2 × 12 1/2 × 10 1/4 in. (Birmingham Museum of Art)
Museum description: "This 17th-century, blue and white, glazed earthenware vessel with two applied handles and applied spouts was made to hold tulips or other flowers. Tulips were introduced to Europe from Turkey in the 16th century. Once it became known that tulip bulbs could tolerate the harsher weather conditions of the Low Countries, the tulip grew in popularity. Its saturated colors made it unlike any other plant and it soon became a status symbol and thus a coveted luxury item. Prices for tulips reached an extraordinary high during this period, and then collapsed suddenly in 1637. This 'tulipmania' is generally considered the first recorded economic 'bubble.'
This vase relates closely in both form and decoration to an example in the Het Loo palace collection in Apeldoorn, Netherlands, as well as to two examples at Schloss Favorite near Rastatt, Germany. The Schloss Favorite vases are believed to be part of a group of objects given in London by William and Mary, rulers of England, Ireland, and Scotland from 1689 to 1702, to the Markgraf Ludwig Wilhelm von Baden-Baden during the winter of 1693-1694. Ludwig Wilhelm brought the vases back to Germany for his wife Sibylla Augusta, an avid ceramics collector."