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Antique Orchid & Bromeliad Chromolithographs 1897, Karatas, Aechmea, Billbergia
£290 ($385, €340)
Period original, not a reproduction.
Shipped from the Netherlands, flat, insured and tracked, worldwide. Returns accepted within 14 days.
- Date
- 1897
- Size
- 9.4 × 6.3 in (24 × 15.9 cm)
- Condition
- Good. Condition report: Very good condition overall. Paper with minor age toning, occasional faint foxing in margins, and light edge wear not affecting the printed area. Vibrant original colour preserved. Is sold without the frame.
- Period
- Late 19th century
- Section
- Botanical
- Reference
- f_46486342
Three bromeliad plates from Edward Step's Favourite Flowers of Garden and Greenhouse, published in 1897, each printed in color by chromolithography. The sheets show Karatas scheretmetiewi, Aechmea fulgens and Billbergia nutans.
The first plate shows Karatas as a rosette of stiff green leaves with scarlet bracts at its heart, with a spray of roots and three small flower details below. The second shows the tall, branching Aechmea fulgens, its upright stem hung with red berries and small blue-violet flowers, set against two broad green leaves, with a flower detail at the lower left. The third shows Billbergia nutans, with narrow arching leaves, a pink stem and drooping flowers with blue-edged petals and yellow stamens, and a single flower drawn separately beside it.
These plants come from tropical America, and Victorian greenhouse growers prized them for their striking forms and colors. Chromolithography allowed the book to give each plant a lifelike color and a clear botanical drawing.
