Simon Pietersz. Verelst (The Hague 1644-?1721 London)

Verelst was the leading flower painter of his generation active in England, where he settled in 1669. Few of his still lifes are signed and even fewer dated. In the same year as Verelst's arrival in London, Samuel Pepys noted in his diary that on 11 April 'one Everest [sic] ... took us to his lodging nearby and did show us a little flowerpot of his drawing, the finest thing, I ever, I think, saw in my life ...'