Aronson Antiquairs of Amsterdam, the leading antique Delft dealers in the world, have announced a spectacularly rare and important addition to their 22nd annual exhibition at New York’s WINTER ANTIQUES SHOW, this year being staged at the Park Avenue Armory from January 22 through January 31, 2016.

            Robert Aronson, fifth generation owner of the 135 year old Dutch firm, says he is both pleased and privileged to offer a monumental pair of lavish 17th century Blue and White Delft Pyramidal Tulipières, or  Flower Vases, that each measure over 41 inches in height (104.6 and 105.8 cm).

Rob de Vos, Consul General of the Netherlands, is hosting a reception celebrating the unveiling of these monumental Tulipières. He says, "I am very excited to host the unveiling of the pair of 17th century Delftware Flower Pyramids in New York.  Nothing has been as iconically Dutch for so long as Blue and White Delftware; especially the 'tulip vases' which are striking in appearance."

Robert Aronson adds that “These exceptionally rare and large Delft Pyramidal Flower Vases are attributed to Dirck Witsenburgh, an owner of The White Star (De Witte Ster) factory and bear the company’s distinctive six pointed star, letter F 20 and numeral 120 of the acclaimed Delft maker.  They date to 1695 and have been in a private Belgian collection since before 1913.

“Fifteen years ago my late father Dave and I were invited to visit the home of an elegant Belgian couple who possessed an important collection of Delft that had been passed down for generations.  This grand pair of Blue and White segmented Pyramidal Flower Vases dominated the room and immediately captured our attention.  We were allowed to deconstruct them and to look at every segment and found the vases in remarkably good condition.  We immediately asked about purchasing them but were told they were not for sale.  However, the couple promised that when they were ready to sell, they would come to us. I view this as a testament to the relationship my family has had with the couple over many years that this past summer they were at last offered for sale.  They are the largest vases of their kind I have handled and in fact, the largest to come onto the open market since 1991. 

“Acquiring these amazing Tulipières now is something beyond my hope and expectations as I had so recently had been able to acquire an extraordinary pair of monumental Figural vases modelled on the royal couple King William III and Queen Mary II, which I had shown at the 2015 Winter Antiques Show.  They are now in the collection of the Gemeentemuseum in The Hague.  I had not even hoped to find something as important to show at this year’s Winter Antiques Show until I acquired this magical pair of Pyramidal vases.”

Aronson says that while Pyramidal vases, or vases with spouts, have long been referred to as “tulip vases” they really were intended to display all kinds of flowers.  “In fact, the 19th century misnomer grew out of a desire to combine 17th century Delft vases with the Dutch ‘Tulipmania’ story, even though the Tulip bulb market had burst in 1637 -- some half century before the finest Delft masterworks were created.”  Major collections around the world often feature Delft Flower Vases, including those of Queen Mary Stuart herself, an avid collector of blue and white objects.”

For Robert Aronson, who celebrated his 25th anniversary with the company last year, the experience of visiting the Belgian couple’s home with his father, who died in 2007, is still fresh in his mind.  “I can still recall the fragrance of the pear and apple trees in the garden just outside the room.”