Lady's Tresses and Twayblade, Antique British Orchid Plate, circa 1873

€ 185

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

Date: circa 1873
Mapmaker / artist: Anne Pratt
Publisher: Frederick Warne and Co., Bedford Street, Covent Garden, London
Technique: Chromolithograph
Coloring: Printed color
Sheet size: 24 × 15.5 cm (9.4 × 6.1 in)
Condition: Good
Reference: BG-14401-25

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

Even age toning. Marked handling soiling along the right and top edges. A few small foxing spots in the margin. Slight wear at the bottom right and top left corners.

About this sheet

Plate 213 of Anne Pratt's British flora, an original antique color plate printed for Frederick Warne and Co. of London about 1873, gives seven British orchids: two twayblades, the bird's nest, three lady's tresses and the creeping goodyera. The caption names Common Twayblade, Heart-Leaved Twayblade, Common Birds-Nest, Fragrant Lady's Tresses, Summer Lady's Tresses, Drooping Lady's Tresses and Creeping Goodyera.

The bird's nest orchid stands at the center in warm honey brown, leafless and dense with flowers, with its cluster of thick pale roots drawn at the foot. The twayblades are given at the left with slender spikes of small yellow green flowers above broad ribbed leaves, and beside them at the far left the fragrant lady's tresses carries small white flowers in a spiral up a slender stem. At the right, tall spikes of small yellow flowers rise from narrow leaves, with brown tubers drawn at their base, and a low leafy plant with creeping roots fills the lower right. Brown tubers and fibrous roots are also drawn at the lower left.

This plate belongs to The Flowering Plants, Grasses, Sedges, and Ferns of Great Britain, the six volume flora that Anne Pratt, 1806 to 1893, wrote and illustrated herself. It was published in London by Frederick Warne and Co. of Bedford Street, Covent Garden, for the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, with Scribner, Welford and Armstrong as the New York house. The plates were printed in color by William Dickes of London, a licensee of George Baxter's color process. This sheet comes from Volume V, whose title page records 237 species in color.

Even age toning. Marked handling soiling along the right and top edges. A few small foxing spots in the margin. Slight wear at the bottom right and top left corners.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed. Any framed or interior images are shown for presentation and inspiration only, unless the listing explicitly states that the item is sold framed.