The tulip season opens today. This year unfortunately no sea of flowers on Dam Square. It will be the harvest of the bulbs from your own garden… or the tulips from the flower stall on the corner. These messengers of spring remain festive … and affordable. That was different in the seventeenth century. Amsterdam was captivated by the tulip craze. Exorbitant prices were paid for a tulip. The cornucopia overflowed. This phenomenon appealed to the imagination, as evidenced by the painting by Egenberger in our collection.
Johannes Hinderikus Egenberger, Anno 1637. The tulip wind trade, 1837-1897
An intriguing event
The painting comes from the Historical Gallery of Jacob de Vos. This art lover commissioned young, promising artists between 1850 and 1863 to depict scenes from Dutch history. The tulip madness, or tulip mania, of 1637 was apparently such an event that appealed to the imagination that it could not be missed in De Vos’ nineteenth-century gallery.
Precious bulbs
The tulip originates from Turkey and was brought by Dutch traders in the sixteenth century. How the tulip bulb could have become a popular object of speculation is still unclear today. The tulips were sold on paper, while the bulbs were barely in the ground. Prices at auctions were pushed further and further to dizzying heights. The most expensive tulip was sold for 1,000 guilders: the price of a canal house in Amsterdam! They were cherished and put in beautiful tulip vases. Such a precious commodity could not be put in a simple flower pot.
Tulip vase 1675-1699
The bubble bursts
The trade in tulip bulbs has been called the first economic bubble in history. The bubble finally burst in 1637. Prices collapsed by up to 5% of what was previously paid for the tulip bulbs. Traders who had invested in tulip bulbs saw their capital evaporate.
A thriving business
Today, the tulip is one of the most exported goods in the Netherlands. More than two billion tulip bulbs are traded every year. Tulips are also sold at flower auctions, of which the one in Aalsmeer is the best known and largest. Nowadays, however, excessive amounts are not demanded.
Click here for more information about National Tulip Day.