Sinclair — Set of 3 Hawaiian Indigenous Flowers c.1885 (Matched Chromolithograph Set)
Sinclair — Set of 3 Hawaiian Indigenous Flowers c.1885 (Matched Chromolithograph Set)
A curated set of three original 1885 chromolithographs from Isabella Sinclair's Indigenous Flowers of the Hawaiian Islands — perfect for coordinated display. All three plates are original 1885 chromolithographs (not reproductions), printed by Leighton Brothers of London after Sinclair's watercolors.
Why Buy as a Set
Three coordinated Sinclair plates framed together make an extraordinary statement — the visual equivalent of a small botanical garden indoors. Interior designers prize matched botanical sets for dining rooms, stairwells, and entry halls. The Hawaiian subject matter adds a sense of place and exotic luxury rare in 19th-century botanical work.
About Isabella McHutcheson Sinclair (1840–1890)
Isabella McHutcheson Sinclair was a Scottish-born botanist who spent her youth in New Zealand before settling in Hawaii on the islands of Niihau (the so-called "Forbidden Island") and Kauai. Working with local Hawaiian informants who shared vernacular plant names and traditional medicinal uses, and corresponding with Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker (Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew), she produced the most important 19th-century record of Hawaiian plants.
About the Work
Indigenous Flowers of the Hawaiian Islands (London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, and Rivington, 1885) contains 44 chromolithographed plates printed by the celebrated Leighton Brothers of London, after Sinclair's watercolors. Harold St. John (Professor of Botany, University of Hawaii) wrote in 1954: "This is the first book with colour pictures of Hawaiian flowering plants. Even today it has more colour plates of Hawaiian plants than any other book." It was also one of the earliest books to use "perfect binding" — leading many surviving copies to lose plates and pages, making loose plates relatively available.
Scarcity & Market Context
Complete copies of Indigenous Flowers in original binding are rare and sell in the $3,500–$8,000 range. Of the 1,300+ endemic Hawaiian plant species, 100 are extinct and 273 are threatened or endangered — Sinclair's plates are the only color visual record of many.
Institutional Holdings
Complete copies at the Chicago Botanic Garden Library (Rare Book Collection), the USDA National Agricultural Library (in the Biodiversity Heritage Library), the Bishop Museum (Honolulu), and major Hawaiian institutional collections.
Dimensions
Each sheet approximately 14.5 × 10.75 inches (36.7 × 27.2 cm)
Frame: This piece ships unframed — the sheet or plate only. We can recommend framers in your area or ship to your preferred framer. Professional framing with archival materials typically runs $150–$400 depending on size and finish.
Shipping Terms
Shipping costs vary by product, packaging requirements, destination, carrier, and insurance value. We do not use flat-rate shipping because antique prints, maps, paintings, and books each require different packing — some ship flat between archival boards, some ship rolled, some require custom-built crates with shock absorption, and framed pieces need extra protection for glass and corners.
How our shipping process works:
- You place your order (shipping is calculated as $0 at checkout)
- We prepare a custom shipping quote for your destination — typically within 24 hours
- We contact you to confirm carrier options (USPS, UPS, FedEx, DHL), insurance value, and delivery timeline
- Once you approve the shipping quote, we send a separate invoice for shipping
- We pack with archival-grade materials and insure at full value
Questions on shipping before you buy? Contact us with your zip code (or international address) and we'll provide a quote before you commit to purchase.
Important Buyer Notice
These pieces are antique originals, ranging from approximately 100 to over 400 years old. Each piece will show varying degrees of age-appropriate condition: paper toning, foxing, edge wear, fold marks, minor restoration, light staining, and other natural signs of age are common and expected for works of this period. Condition varies from piece to piece.
It is the buyer's responsibility to confirm that the piece is in the condition they require before purchase. We are always happy to answer any questions about the state of the work, provide additional photographs of specific areas, describe any flaws or repairs in detail, or arrange a video review before you buy. Please contact us at any time with questions — we believe an informed buyer is the best customer.
All pieces are guaranteed authentic originals (not reproductions, facsimiles, or modern prints). We offer a full refund if authenticity is ever disputed by a qualified third party.