Vase with Flowers by Follower of Jan van Huysum

Following the sinuous sway of a Rococo curve, this bouquet weaves together the stems and tendrils of roses, stocks, peonies, orange blossom, hollyhocks, auriculas and forget-me-nots, to create an effusive arrangement that imitates the style of Dutch flower painter, Jan van Huysum (1682-1749). Dramatically lit, a transition from dark to light to dark moves across the painting, from the deep blue blooms in the shadowy top left, through a bright band of whites, pinks and mauves to the lower right corner, where withered and dried vine tendrils partially obscure a bird’s nest. The juxtaposition of different-sized blossoms, a selection that would have overwhelmed the senses with perfume if experienced in real life, includes a fading tulip, its striped ‘flames’ adding a dramatic focus. The bird eggs – a symbol of new life – contrast with this wilting tulip, a reminder of the passing of time and the fragility of life, a sentiment which often underpinned still life paintings of this type.

Van Huysum was much copied and imitated, and this homage captures the complexity of his arrangements but not his precision and attention to detail. The minutiae are missing here; the butterfly is only lightly detailed and the hover fly alluded to as a simple silhouette. Water drops are visible but without the jewel-like glint that Van Huysum’s brush could create. As a decorative piece, the painting encompasses eighteenth-century taste for sweeping shapes, playful colour combinations and a trompe l’oeil effect that would still have held a commanding presence in any fashionable drawing room.