Orchids: Framed 19th C. Hand-Colored Engraving of "Laelia Anceps" by J. Fitch, 1882

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This beautiful, original hand-colored orchid lithograph entitled "Laelia Anceps Williamsii" Orchids by John Nugent Fitch is plate 100 in Robert … Read more This beautiful, original hand-colored orchid lithograph entitled "Laelia Anceps Williamsii" Orchids by John Nugent Fitch is plate 100 in Robert Warner's publication 'The Orchid Album, Comprising Coloured Figures and Descriptions of New, Rare, and Beautiful Orchidaceous Plants', published in London between 1882 and 1897. The Orchid Album was illustrated by the master orchid illustrator, John Nugent Fitch. His original drawings are in the Natural History Museum in London. Lycaste Harrisoniae Eburnea orchids, Christmas bloomers, are found in nature in Mexico and Honduras.

The print is presented in a gold-colored wood frame embellished with a beaded inner trim and a cream-colored silk mat, a black inner mat and a gold fillet. There is a punctate spot in the right margin, but the print is otherwise in excellent condition. The original English descriptive text pages are included in a mylar sleeve attached to the back of the frame.

John Nugent Fitch (1840-1927) was a British botanical illustrator and lithographer, best known for his contribution of 528 plates to The Orchid Album, but he also contributed to Curtis's Botanical Magazine from 1878. The striking beauty of Fitch's orchid illustrations contributed to orchid mania that swept through Victorian Britain. Huge greenhouses were built a time that Britain was experiencing very active foreign trade in exotic botanical specimens which led to a proliferation of illustrated periodicals for horticulturists at every level of experience. Many of the orchids illustrated by Fitch in his watercolors have since gone extinct and others are extremely rare. See less