Vibrant Orchid and Clivia: A Botanical Duo from Van Houtte's Collection, c.1875
€ 240
Original antique · The actual sheet photographed · Certificate of authenticity on request · Sold unframed · Worldwide shipping from € 15 (rates)
Date
1875
Sheet size
16.3 × 25 cm (6.4 × 9.8 in)
Condition
Good
Reference
BG-13761-10 and BG-13761-11
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
Given age. General age-related toning and/or occasional minor defects from handling. Colors are vivid, lower border cut short. Please study scan carefully.
About this sheet
Scarlet Sophronitis and a clivia, two chromolithographs. The first is from Louis van Houtte's Flore des Serres et des Jardins de l'Europe, lettered "Sophronitis coccinea Rchb. fil.", with the origin "Rio-de-Janeiro" and the note "Serre chaude". The second is lettered "Hemanthophyllum Mme Van Houtte" and shows a clivia.
On the first sheet, a tuft of dark green leaves on a mossy base carries a group of bright scarlet-orange flowers with rounded petals. The second sheet shows a clump of long, strap-shaped, arching leaves with a rounded head of orange funnel-shaped flowers on a stout stem at the top, and a single flower in the foreground opened to show its yellow throat and stamens.
Hemanthophyllum was an old name for the clivia, a South African plant, and the lettering on the second plate is in a different style from the first, so it may come from a different publication than Van Houtte's series. The Brazilian orchid on the other sheet is native to the mountains near Rio de Janeiro.
