Private collection, Europe;
With John Mitchell, London;
Anonymous sale, Rasmussen, Copenhagen, 16 April - 2 May 1986, lot 51, as 'Ambrosius Bosschaert the Younger';
Acquired by the present owner in July 1986.

"The following condition report has been provided by Henry Gentle, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. The oak panel is in a good condition and the paint layer is secure and flat; the painting has been quite recently cleaned and restored. There is evidence of restoration to the background where some thinnesses have been augmented and the conspicuous horizontal wood grain reduced. Under Ultra-violet light a scattering of minor restorations can be seen across the surface. Most of the paint to the still life is in a good preserved condition with the impasto, particularly to the parrot tulip, untouched and colours that saturate well. The shadow beneath the ledge has been slightly augmented; taken as a whole, the painting is in good condition. No tonal improvement will be gained from removing the varnish. Offered in a modern ebonised frame, in good condition."
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

This unusual still life is one of a small group of flower studies by Marrel, all of broadly similar dimensions, which focus on just two or three individual flowers placed carefully on a ledge. Although the last two digits of the date are illegible it seems likely that the painting is datable to circa 1660 on the basis of a close comparison with another small panel dated to that year, depicting a parrot tulip and two white roses with insects on a stone ledge. Both works are signed in similar fashion in the lower right corner.¹

Although born in Frankenthal on the Rhine, Marrel is more closely associated with the two great centres of still life painting in northern Europe, Frankfurt and Utrecht. Having trained under Georg Flegel in the former, he soon moved to Utrecht in the early 1630s where he was a pupil of Jan Davidsz. de Heem. During this time he would have come to know Ambrosius Bosschaert the Younger to whose flower still lifes many of his works bear a close resemblance. Although the present work was painted after Marrell's return to Frankfurt after 1650 it retains much of his Dutch learning. Back in Frankfurt he tutored the young Abraham Mignon who would later follow in his own footsteps to Holland and, more specifically, to the studio of Jan Davidsz. de Heem.

We are grateful to Fred G. Meijer for pointing out that the artist's mo🐷🤪nogram used here incorporates all the letters of Marrel's name. 

1. See G. Bott, Die Stillebenmaler Soreau, Binoit, Codino und Marrell꧟, Hanau 2001, p. 234, cat. no. WV.M.35, reproduced🎶.