Flowers in a square glass vase

This oil painting depicting flowers in a square glass vase, also held by Rijksmuseum Twenthe, extends the Bosschaert tradition into the post-1621 period when the master's sons and followers continued working within his established idiom. The date of 1700 suggests either a later follower's work in the Bosschaert manner or a misattributed dating, since Ambrosius the Elder died in 1621. Such attribution questions are common with workshop productions that faithfully replicated the founder's compositions. The square glass vase format that Bosschaert pioneered became a recognizable type widely imitated by Dutch still life painters throughout the seventeenth century. Rijksmuseum Twenthe holds multiple works in this tradition, reflecting the sustained collecting interest in Dutch floral still life that continued well past the genre's founding generation. The persistence of the Bosschaert formula — specific blooms on a ledge in an ordered bouquet — testifies to the commercial and aesthetic appeal these compositions held for collectors across the entire Golden Age period.

Oil on panel in the Bosschaert workshop tradition employs fine detail brushwork over a smooth white or light grey ground. The square glass vessel is depicted with attention to its transparent walls and the way it frames and refracts stem forms below the waterline. Highlights on petals are typically applied wet-over-dry in final touches.