Exhibition Guide

A Tulip, a Carnation and Roses, with Shells and Insects, on a Ledge

  • Audio

    Looking with BMA Curator Lara Yeager-Crasselt

    Read Transcript

  • Audio

    Seashells and Colonial Exploitation

    Read Transcript

  • Audio

    Adding This Painting to the Collection

    Read Transcript

Additional Images

Detail of A Tulip, a Carnation and Roses, with Shells and Insects, on a Ledge
Detail of A Tulip, a Carnation and Roses, with Shells and Insects, on a Ledge

Art Object Info

Medium:
Oil on wood panel
Size:
Width: 15 7/8"
Height: 12"
Date:
c. 1630s

Seashells from the Indian Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, and the Caribbean Sea line the foreground. A rare red-and-white-striped tulip, originally from Central Asia, lies toward the back of the stone tabletop. A dragonfly, bumblebee, and inchworm quietly enliven the scene.

Balthasar van der Ast was among the first generation of Dutch artists to make still-life painting a specialized genre in the 17th century. Born in Middelburg, in the Netherlands, he would have been familiar with the activities of the Dutch East India Company, which transported commodities and enslaved people throughout Asia and Africa. Some of the shells depicted here would have moved through these global networks. Middelburg also had a robust intellectual community interested in botany. Varieties of flora, fauna, and other natural specimens appealed to members of the Dutch elite, who collected and displayed similar rarities.

Art Fund Established with Exchange Funds from Gifts of Dr. And Mrs. Edgar F. Berman, Equitable Bank, N.A., Geoffrey Gates, Sandra O. Moose, National Endowment for the Arts, Lawrence Rubin, Philip M. Stern, And Alan J. Zakon, BMA BMA 2023.20

A Tulip, a Carnation and Roses, with Shells and Insects, on a Ledge

Balthasar van der Ast
Date:
c. 1630s
Medium:
Oil on wood panel
Size:
Width: 15 7/8"
Height: 12"

Seashells from the Indian Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, and the Caribbean Sea line the foreground. A rare red-and-white-striped tulip, originally from Central Asia, lies toward the back of the stone tabletop. A dragonfly, bumblebee, and inchworm quietly enliven the scene.

Balthasar van der Ast was among the first generation of Dutch artists to make still-life painting a specialized genre in the 17th century. Born in Middelburg, in the Netherlands, he would have been familiar with the activities of the Dutch East India Company, which transported commodities and enslaved people throughout Asia and Africa. Some of the shells depicted here would have moved through these global networks. Middelburg also had a robust intellectual community interested in botany. Varieties of flora, fauna, and other natural specimens appealed to members of the Dutch elite, who collected and displayed similar rarities.

Art Fund Established with Exchange Funds from Gifts of Dr. And Mrs. Edgar F. Berman, Equitable Bank, N.A., Geoffrey Gates, Sandra O. Moose, National Endowment for the Arts, Lawrence Rubin, Philip M. Stern, And Alan J. Zakon, BMA BMA 2023.20