Antique Natural HistoryOriginal plates from the naturalists' books, 1600s to 1900s
Alkanet, Bugloss and Comfrey, Antique Blue Wild Flower Plate, circa 1873

Close-ups

Alkanet, Bugloss and Comfrey, Antique Blue Wild Flower Plate, circa 1873, close-up 1

Framed and on the wall

Alkanet, Bugloss and Comfrey, Antique Blue Wild Flower Plate, circa 1873, shown framedAlkanet, Bugloss and Comfrey, Antique Blue Wild Flower Plate, circa 1873, shown framed on a wallAlkanet, Bugloss and Comfrey, Antique Blue Wild Flower Plate, circa 1873, shown framed in a room

Frame and rooms are illustrations of how the print could look; the description says what is included.

Alkanet, Bugloss and Comfrey, Antique Blue Wild Flower Plate, circa 1873

€145 ($160, £120, €145)

Period original, not a reproduction.

Buy now Ask a question

Shipped from the Netherlands, flat or rolled, insured and tracked, worldwide. Returns accepted within 14 days.

Date
circa 1873
Size
9.4 × 6.1 in (24 × 15.5 cm)
Technique
Chromolithograph
Coloring
Printed color
Condition
Good. Even age toning. Handling soiling along the bottom, right and top edges. A few small foxing spots in the margin. Slight wear at the bottom left, bottom right and top left corners.
Period
Late 19th century
Section
Botanical
Reference
BG-14434-9
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.

Printed in color in London for Frederick Warne and Co., this original antique plate from Anne Pratt's British flora shows the two alkanets, the small bugloss and the two British comfreys. Deep blue flowers of the common alkanet, Anchusa officinalis, open at the left against rough hairy leaves, with the larger pale blue flowers of Anchusa sempervirens beside them. Cream and pale yellow bells of Symphytum hang in a drooping cluster at the lower right, and the thick ridged stems and long tapering leaves of the comfreys carry the eye down the sheet.

Anne Pratt brought out The Flowering Plants, Grasses, Sedges, and Ferns of Great Britain through Frederick Warne and Co. of Bedford Street, Covent Garden, in six volumes covering more than fifteen hundred species. The plates were printed in color by William Dickes of London, a licensee of the Baxter color process, and this sheet comes from Volume IV, which the title page records as carrying 249 species in color.

Anne Pratt, 1806 to 1893, wrote more than twenty books on plants and birds and received little critical attention in her own lifetime, which later writers have put down to the Victorian reluctance to take a self taught woman seriously as a scientist. Her books nonetheless sold in very large numbers, and her plates are now the most familiar images of the British wild flora produced in that century.

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

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.

Ask about this print

We reply by email, usually within one working day.

Your favorites

Saved in this browser. Email the list to yourself to keep it on any device.

We use your email to send this list and, only if you tick the box and confirm, for occasional new arrivals. Every email has an unsubscribe link. Bartele Gallery, the Netherlands.

Your bag

Total

Each piece is bought on its own; shipping is added at checkout.