Snapshots of the Past

White House orchids – Vintage Print

White House orchids, [between 1889 and 1906] — historic photograph
White House orchids, [between 1889 and 1906]. Historic photograph from the White House collection.

(Originally scanned by the Library of Congress. Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)

Description

This historic photograph of White House orchids brings a moment of history to your wall. Sourced directly from the Library of Congress, it represents an authentic piece of documented history.

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White House orchids

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Orchids grown for the White House are the subject here, and that domestic detail sets this cyanotype apart from the mansion's exteriors and state rooms. It belongs to the Frances Benjamin Johnston Collection at the Library of Congress, and Johnston, a Washington photographer, documented the executive mansion and its household in the 1890s and early 1900s. The cyanotype process, which exposes iron-salt coated paper to light and develops it in water, gives the print its characteristic blue tones. The record dates it only to between 1889 and 1906, so the exact year remains uncertain.

Created / published[between 1889 and 1906]
Medium1 photographic print : cyanotype.
GenreCyanotypes 1880-1910.
NotesForms part of: Frances Benjamin Johnston Collection (Library of Congress).
SubjectsOrchids--Washington (D.C.)--1880-1910.
SourceLibrary of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Original scan4,096 × 3,248 px · prints to 14 × 11 in at 300 dpi
ReferenceAMZ-SOTP-HPA-206714

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