Vase of flowers on a shelf by German artist Jacob Marrel (1613-81), estimated at €30,000-50,000 at Tajan.
The 16½x 12½in (42 x 32cm) oil on a single piece of unparqueted oak depicting a vase of flowers on a shelf is by the German artist Jacob Marrel (1613-81) who specialised in such works.
The bouquet features a striped Viceroy tulip. This species, a single bulb of which was worth an exorbitant price at the time, was at the origin of the Tulipmania speculative bubble and subsequent economic crisis.
Marrel often represented it partly because it gave added value to his works but also because he drew the very detailed watercolour plates of tulips (in the Rijksmuseum) for the trade and catalogues of the horticulturalists. Signed and dated lower right J Marrell 1641, it has an estimate of €30,000-50,000.
