Japanese Morning Glory Caerulea Variegata, Pharbitis Polymorpha, 1858

This is an original antique botanical print, a chromolithograph printed in color, numbered plate III and lettered "PHARBITIS POLYMORPHA Sieb & de Vries VAR. CAERULEA VARIEGATA." A twining stem of morning glory climbs the sheet, carrying one fully open trumpet flower in deep violet blue with rose pink rays running into the throat, several long furled buds, and three lobed leaves splashed and edged with cream, the variegation named in the lettering. One large dark green leaf sits at the lower left, and a fine tendril curls away at the lower right.

The name is lettered in capitals with the authority "Sieb & de Vries" (Siebold and de Vriese) and the variety name caerulea variegata, meaning blue and variegated. Beneath it the line "L. Stroobant Sc & Lith à Gand." records that L. Stroobant engraved and lithographed the plate in Ghent. The plate number III. is printed at the top right. No artist is named on this plate.

The plate comes from the first volume of the Annales d'horticulture et de botanique, ou Flore des jardins du royaume des Pays-Bas, published at Leiden by A. W. Sythoff in 1858 for the Société royale d'horticulture des Pays-Bas under the patronage of King William III. The title page of this volume names Ph. Fr. de Siebold and W. H. de Vriese as its editors. The work recorded cultivated and ornamental plants grown in the Netherlands and introduced from the Dutch possessions in the East Indies, from America and from Japan. L. Stroobant was a lithographer working in Ghent (Gand in French).

The strong color and clear drawing make it a good choice for a study, a garden room or a hallway, framed singly or in a group of plates from the same work.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.