Apostasia odorata

Rare large botanical lithograph from the famous series of plants collected by Nathaniel Wallich a Danish botanist active in India in the early nineteenth century.  Wallich was one the first Europeans to train and use Indian botanical artists who were employed by the Calcutta Botanic Garden to illustrate his series. Wallich issued the series in 12 parts between 1829 and 1832 in an edition of only two hundred and fifty four copies of this work made, of which most of these are now accounted for in libraries and institutional collections. Forty sets were purchased by the East India Company.  According to his Wallich, the skilled colourist was a ‘Mr. John Clark.‘