Circle of Ambrosius Bosschaert I (Antwerp 1573-1621 The Hague)

Although this hitherto unpublished picture displays obvious stylistic affinities with the work of Ambrosius Bosschaert, its attribution remains uncertain. An attribution to Bosschaert's successor in Middelburg, Christoffel van den Berghe (active c. 16170-1642), has been considered, on the basis of a comparison with his only known signed flower still life, dated 1617, in the Johnson collection, Philadelphia (see L.J. Bol, The Bosschaert Dynasty, Leigh-on-Sea, 1960, pp. 55 and 99, pl. 64). The central tulip in the present composition and the tulip (upper right) in the van den Berghe picture are strikingly similar.