About this piece
- Title: Saccolabium Violaceum
- Author: Walter Hood Fitch
- Date: c.1865
- Condition: Excellent
- Inches: 11 1/8 x 15 1/2 [Image]
- Centimeters: 28.25 x 39.37 [Image]
- Product ID: 308440
Saccolabium violaceum is an orchid species historically placed in the genus Saccolabium but is now recognized as a synonym of Rhynchostylis gigantea subsp. violacea in modern taxonomy. This reclassification aligns with updated orchid nomenclature, so most contemporary references will list it under the genus Rhynchostylis.
Background on Creator
Walter Hood Fitch (1817-1892) was born in Glasgow, Scotland. From a young age, he demonstrated artistic talent and began formal training as a pattern drawer at a textile mill by the age of 13. This early apprenticeship, which involved creating intricate designs for calico fabric and mastering the complex process of engraving and color matching, laid the technical foundation for his later work as a botanical illustrator.
Fitch’s career in botanical art began after a pivotal meeting with William Jackson Hooker, the Regius Professor of Botany at Glasgow University and editor of Curtis’s Botanical Magazine. Impressed by Fitch’s skill and attention to detail, Hooker bought him out of his apprenticeship and employed him to produce botanical illustrations for the magazine. Fitch’s first published lithograph, of Mimulus roseus, appeared in 1834.
