Cattleya Rochellensis, Reichenbachia Orchids lithograph. Charles Storer c1888.

by Storer, Charles

Superb antique print, Cattleya Orchid by Charles Storer.

Original lithograph printed in colour by Gustav Leutzsch after Charles Storer for Reichenbachia: Orchids Illustrated and Described published in London between 1888 and 1894 by Hanover-born nurseryman Henry Frederick Conrad Sander (1847-1920). (In the whole of this series, this is the only orchid lithograph by Charles Storer.)

Working at a Forest Hill nursery in England from the age of 20, Sander set up his own independent nursery after Prague explorer and plant collector Benedict Roezl began sending him orchids and tropical plants to sell on consignment. With an aim of producing life-size illustrations of orchids of every class, Sander employed around 20 orchid collectors who travelled to the tropical regions of the world in search of orchid species for him. He employed Henry Moon who as illustrator for the magazine The Garden, was notable for his skillfully representing flowers in a natural manner. H.G. Moon signed each lithographic plate to show his approval of the lithograph made from his watercolour. Sander’s ambitious orchid monograph was named Reichenbachia after Heinrich Gustav Reichenbach (1824-1889), a German botanist who devoted his life to studying orchids.

Page size is 530 x 395 mm (20.75 x 15.5 inches). This lithograph is in fine condition.