Victorian Botanical Orchid Print – Two Exotic Varieties, c.1888

€ 580

Original antique · The actual sheet photographed · Certificate of authenticity on request · Sold unframed · Worldwide shipping from € 15 (rates)

Date: 1888
Sheet size: 52.5 × 35 cm (20.7 × 13.8 in)
Condition: Good
Reference: PCT-60629

What the condition grades mean

Excellent: Bright and clean, with no faults worth mentioning.
Very good: Only light signs of age, such as faint toning.
Good: Normal signs of age for a sheet of this period: toning, some foxing, small marks or neat old repairs.
Fair: Clear faults such as staining, tears or repairs, priced to match.

Every fault we see is written in the condition note, and the whole sheet is shown uncropped in the photos.

Condition

Very good condition. Light overall age toning and minor foxing in the margins. Colors fresh and well preserved. No tears or repairs. Blank verso.

About this sheet

Two orchids on one sheet, Paphinia rugosa and Zygopetalum xanthinum, an original chromolithograph from Reichenbachia: Orchids Illustrated and Described, issued by Henry Frederick Conrad Sander between 1888 and 1894. The plate is lettered "Reichenbachia" at the upper left, with each species named beneath its own picture in capitals, and carries the signatures of the artist Henry Moon in both vignettes and the Gustav Leutzsch credit as chromolithographer at the lower left.

The upper picture shows Paphinia rugosa growing from a bed of moss, its leaves arching overhead, with spreading cream and burgundy flowers finely speckled and the lip a rich dark red. The lower picture shows a cluster of bright yellow Zygopetalum xanthinum flowers, each with a crimson-marked center, set low against dark green foliage on a dark ledge. Both subjects are given soft, shadowy vignette backgrounds on cream paper.

Both genera are from tropical Central and South America. Reichenbachia was a luxurious folio work of the Victorian orchid boom, and Moon drew its plates from living plants.