Cattleya labiata Gaskelliana lithograph for Sander's Reichenbachia Orchids, c1890

by Moon, H.G.

Superb White Cattleya Orchids horizontal 'landscape' antique print.

Large, original colour-printed ithograph by Gustav Leutzsch after the watercolour by H.G. Moon for Reichenbachia: Orchids Illustrated and Described published in London between 1888 and 1894 by Hanover-born nurseryman Henry Frederick Conrad Sander (1847-1920). Henry George Moon (1857-1905) was renowned for his natural-looking depiction 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.

A lovely large image, 330 x 470 cm (13 x 18.5 inches). Total page size, 395 x 530 mm (15.5 x 20.75 inches).