Set of 2 Original Antique Hand-Colored Fern Engravings, Lady Fern, 1806-1809

This is an original set of 2 antique hand-colored copper engravings of shield ferns, sold together, from Christian Schkuhr's survey of the ferns and fern allies printed at Wittenberg between 1806 and 1809. The lady fern given two full plates, Tab. 58 and 59, a frond study and a fertile study of the same species. The 2 sheets are Aspidium Filix femina and Aspidium Filix femina. They are the same size, printed from the same press and colored by the same hand, so they frame and hang as one group.

Schkuhr published this work himself at Wittenberg, in nine instalments between 1806 and 1809, as the fern volume of his treatment of the cryptogams. He drew, engraved and colored the plates, which is unusual: most botanical authors of the period handed their drawings to a professional engraver and a coloring workshop. The volume carries 221 plates numbered to 173 with lettered supplements, and is listed at Pritzel 8205.

The sheet is a copper engraving finished in watercolor by hand, and the coloring is original to the period of publication. The wash sits over the engraved outline and varies from figure to figure in the way hand work does, with the greens laid in several strengths to separate the upper and lower surfaces of the frond. The paper carries the plate mark of the copper plate. The plate is decorative as well as scientific. Early botanical engravings of ferns have been a staple of interior decoration since the Victorian fern craze, and an original sheet of this date, hand-colored and engraved by the botanist himself, carries considerably more weight than the later reproductions that fill the market.

Light uneven toning, browner towards the edges. Handling soiling along the edges of both sheets. Light foxing in the margins of one of the two sheets. Slight wear at the corners of both sheets.

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