Lot 1. The Peter Van Slyke Collection. A Dutch Delftware blue and white tulipiere with the monogram and bust of King-Stadtholder William III, circa 1695-1702, blue monogram marks for Lambertus Van Eenhoorn at De Metaale Pot above indistinct 6 and 4; 34.3 cm high. Price realised GBP 95,250 (Estimate GBP 60,000 – GBP 80,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

The vase body formed as an oval flanked by eight spouts, four on each side, all painted with floral motifs, the center with an embossed heart-shaped shield with a WR (William Rex) mirror monogram below acanthus leaves and surmounted by a bust of William III dressed in classical military dress, all resting on two recumbent lions holding terrestrial globes in their front paws, military trophies below, a warrior with a sword to the center, the reverse decorated with a baroque dolphin fountain in a forested landscape, upon rectangular plinth adorned with Chinoiserie style lappets.

Provenance: Anonymous sale; Christie's, Amsterdam, 30 May 2001, lot 455.

Literature: Marion S. van Aken-Fehmers, et. al, Delfts Aardewerk Geschiedenis van een nationaal product, Vazen met tuiten 300 jaar pronkstukken (Dutch Delftware, History of a National Product, Vases with Spouts), Zwolle, 2007, p. 142, no. 2.14, fig. 1.

Note: Including the present vase, only seven of this rare type of tulip vase are known to be extant. Six are recorded in literature, and include the two at Althorp House, thought to be given by the King-Stadholder to William to Robert Spencer, second Earl of Sunderland (1641-1702), forebear to the late Princess Diana, during his visit there in 1695. The other known pieces are the vase at the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, with a similar fountain ornament to the back; the vase at the Kunstgewerbemuseum, Cologne, with the monogram WR replaced by a cherub and a floral back; the vase at Het Loo, Apeldoorn, with floral back; and the vase with monogram WR, only known from photograph, with a helmet instead of a bust.

Spouted flower vessels are found in Persia and the Middle East from the late 12th century, then later in France and the Low Countries. During the late 17th century the powerful and fashionably minded royal and aristocratic patrons looked to the East for stylistic inspiration. The beautiful earthenware produced in Delft at this time rivalled Chinese export porcelain and came in equally exotic shapes. The VOC imported Chinese porcelain into Europe and this was directly copied by Dutch delft manufacturers. Delft flower-vases with spouts could take many forms. Some were tureen or basket shape, or small multi-spouted vases intended for display on fireplaces or tables (such as the present example). Others were more elaborate and complicated multi-tiered flower pyramids, obelisks or large vases.

Queen Mary's collection of Delft at Het Loo provided inspiration for a similar collection in England and her interest and involvement in the Delft industry combined with her passion for horticulture helped fuel the development of an extraordinary number of bizarre forms of flower vases. It became fashionable in aristocratic households to bring the outside, in, and display elaborate flower blooms in the grand interiors of the day. Vases of flower specimens were placed on fireplaces, or on tables for feasts. Although known as ‘tulipières’, this term is thought to have originated in the 19th century, and before this they were known as ‘bouquetiers à Jacinthes’ (hyacinth bouquetiers). Contemporary representations of such Delftware vessels show that they were in fact used to display many and varied specimens.

Today, flower vases of this type, remain preserved in some of the most important noble and royal collections in the country. The form of the present example is much rarer than most. Given the provenance of some of the other examples of this type, it seems likely that the present lot was commissioned by a particularly prominent family or given as a royal gift.

See Christine Lahaussois, Delfts Aardewerk, Paris, 2008, p. 97, AFB. 11, for an illustration at the vase at Paleis Het Loo (inv. RL 301) and p. 101, AFB. 4 for the example of one vase at Althorp House, Northamptonshire. Also see A.M.L.E. Erkelens, ‘Delffs Porcelijn' van koningin Mary II (Queen Mary's 'Delft porcelain'), Ceramiek op Het Loo uit de tijd van Willem III en Mary II (Ceramics at Het Loo from the time of William and Mary), Zwolle, 1996, pp. 78-80 for illustrations of the examples at Het Loo, the pair at Althorp House and the example in the Kunstgewerbemuseum, Cologne, as well as a reference to the example known only by photograph.

Lot 2. The Peter Van Slyke Collection. A large Dutch Delft blue and white nine-tier flower pyramid, late 17th-18th century, mark for De Witte Ster with star above WB and 7; 99 cm high. Price realised GBP 101,600 (Estimate GBP 100,000 – GBP 150,000) © Christie's Images Ltd 2026

Each of the nine sectioned tulipiere painted with Chinoiserie motifs including phoenixes, precious Antiques, birds among rockwork and prunus, lotus and peony flowers, each corner with a lion-mask holding a nozzle in its jaws, surmounted by a lion-finial and raised on four paw feet.

Exhibited: By repute, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag

Note : 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.

Christie's. The Exceptional Sale: Masterworks Across Cultures, London, 30 June 2026