The legend of the Black Tulip began in 1850, with the publishing of Alexandre Dumas' novel "La Tulipe Noire" (‘The Black Tulip').
The story is about a competition and a prize offered to the first man or woman to produce a pure, black Tulip.
Although a work of fiction, the book ignited a fever amongst passionate tulip growers to try and cultivate a real “black tulip”. Generations of tulip growers would try their hand at creating the darkest tulip possible.
Our "Bollongier" wallpaper print part of our floral collection is named after the famous famous Dutch still life artist Hans Gillisz. Bollongier (1600 - 1645), this wallpaper print features hand-painted specimens of different tulips layered on top of drawings and illustrations of Regency style furniture and Neo-classical architecture.
