Tulip… what? Tulipiere.
One of my favorite parts of Spring are the tulips. Some people love them so much, they designed special vases to hold them!
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| tulipiere from the 1600s |
In the 1600s, tulips were really expensive. They were the thing for the rich to show off as they were so expensive. In fact, “tulipomania” reached its height in the 1620s, with one Dutch tulip grower being offered an entire year’s worth of salary for one bulb!
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| I think this is Royal Delft |
You can’t just put an expensive flower in any old vase. So in the 17th century, the tulipiere was born.
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| love the beautiful red tulips with the blue/white china |
The tulipiere is made to accommodate one single bulb per spout to show off each individual bulb.
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| Dutch tulip vase, 1680s. |
It became popular after it was displayed at Hampton Court in England, although its origins are Dutch.
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| Dutch tulipiere from the 1690s with the arms of Willem III. Royal collection, Hampton Court. |
Other flower bulbs were expensive too, including crocus and hyacinth. So those were displayed in tulipieres as well.
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| the owner of this trio of tulipieres would have been extremely wealthy to own all three! |
The tulipiere is often in a pagoda shape. The Delft factories’ inspiration was Asian porcelain as they just started trading with China in the 1600s.
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| Delft, circa 1690. This sold at Christie’s in 2005. Price was $57,000! |
The tulipieres are often part of a set, so you could break them down and arrange them as you wished.
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| so pretty! |
Not all tulipieres are in the pagoda shape, here are some shaped as fans.
The antique ones are extremely expensive. There are other newer version by other companies, but I only like the antique looking ones so I will only show those!
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| A blue tulipiere from Juliska. |
A newer French version:
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| Quimper |
New ones are usually spendy too. But not this artichoke inspired one:
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| This one only costs $35, from gumps.com |
Another version by Juliska in the original “country estate” pattern. I thought it was interesting to show an empty one, as below…
You can get it here. (I received mine as a wedding gift!)
Do I have you hooked? Do you want a tulipiere to show off your tulips! I do!
Love the post! My wife just got one of these and I realized this meant I am going to have to buy her a lot of fresh flowers in the future! She tricked me!
How clever, I need to do the same!
I will be on the look out for one of these amazing pieces for flowers! They usually have from from Holland. Thanks for sharing, I'm inspired to hunt one down!
FABBY
Aren't they neat? Thanks for stopping by!
What an interesting post. The information is fascinating. Thank you for sharing. I will be sure to scoop one up if I across it.
Yes, if you see one you need to scoop it up! They are quite rare to find!
They are all so beautiful! A friend of mine has a nice collection.
How lucky of your friend! I bet they look beautiful filled with fresh flowers
These are all so gorgeous, thank you for sharing these wonderful tulipieres!!
I will now be on the hunt for my very own!
xoxo
Karena
2014 Artists Series
I love the history you shared about the tulipieres, What a unique way to display tulips. Thank you for sharing your wonderful blog at the Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop ♥
I have never seen these…I feel like a just took an interior design class…good post and work! Thanks for sharing on the Thursday Blog Hop!
Yes, I want the Juliska tulipiere. '-) How nice to have received yours as a wedding gift. Perfect!
I have a couple of small Quimper tulipieres, but would love to add a statement piece such as yours.