Cattleya O'Brieniana Orchid chromolithograph after HG Moon. Sander's Reichbachia c1890

by Moon, H.G.

Cattleya Orchid lithograph by Gustav Leutzsch antique print.

Lithographed after the watercolour by English landscape painter and botanical artist, Henry George Moon (1857-1905) for Reichenbachia: Orchids Illustrated and Described published in London between 1888 and 1894 by Hanover-born nurseryman Henry Frederick Conrad Sander (1847-1920). H.G. Moon was renowned for his natural representation of flowers.

Working at a Forest Hill nursery in England from the age of 20, Sander set up independently after Prague explorer and plant collector Benedict Roezl began sending him orchids and tropical plants to sell on consignment. With an aim of illustrating life-size orchids of every class, Sander named his monograph Reichenbachia after German botanist Heinrich Gustav Reichenbach (1824-1889), who devoted his life to studying orchids.

This is a lovely large orchid lithograph, 470 x 330 cm (18.5 x 13 inches). The total page size is 530 x 395 mm (20.75 x 15.5 inches). There is an expert repair towards the base of the stem - hence the low price.