Around 1600 these beautiful flowers were object of wild speculations in France and later in the Netherlands.
As the prices for one bulb went up to 2-3 million dollars, converted to today’s value, the state had to intervene and regulate the prices. The Tulip Book of Pieter Cos written 1634 is one of the last existing catalogues that gave the customer an expression of the flower they may expect after buying and planting the small brown bulbs. The Blossoms of the 66 artfully drawn flowers are hand painted with colourful enamel colours on to the classic Lobmeyr Alpha Water Tumbler. The total flower, the impressing description, the weight, the bulb and its price are painted on a simple cylindrical vase. — Tulipmania for the set table.