Explore our collection of vintage lily illustrations, all free to download and in the public domain. Perfect for art, decor, or educational use, these timeless, royalty-free prints capture the beauty of lilies in various artistic styles.
These vintage lily paintings are the latest addition to the extensive collection of vintage floral illustrations for free download on Pictureboxblue.
Various flowers that are called a lily aren’t lilies. They aren’t true lilies as they don’t belong to the flowering plant genus Lilium. Examples include the water lily, calla lily flower and lilies of the valley.
They got their lily names because their flowers resemble lilies. You will see from the lily drawings below that they have showy trumpet-shaped flowers.
I have focused on just true lilies in this collection of floral lily illustrations.
Meaning & Symbolism of Lily Flowers
Lilies are grown for commercial use. They are the fourth most popular flowers sold by florists. The most popular flower is the rose (illustrations here).
The meaning of lilies varies from culture to culture and by the colour of the flowers. They most commonly mean devotion or purity. In the Victorian language of flowers, lilies portray love, ardour, and affection for your loved ones.
Lilies are the flowers most commonly used at funerals in the West. That is because the flowers symbolically signify that the deceased’s soul has been restored to innocence. In China, lilies are used in weddings because they are tied to 100 years of love and good luck.
Christians associated lilies, especially the Madonna lily, with the Virgin Mary.
The beautiful lily flower comes in many colours and is interpreted in a different way.
- White lily flowers traditionally symbolize modesty and new beginnings (purity).
- Pink lilies symbolize love, femininity, admiration and abundance.
- A Red lily symbolizes love and passion. They make a nice change to roses in Valentine’s bouquet.
- An Orange lily (tiger lily) symbolizes confidence, pride, and wealth.
- Yellow flowers are great ‘thank you’ flowers. They symbolize thankfulness, and their sunny colour is happiness.
The Lily Images and Drawings
All vintage lily drawings and illustrations are available royalty-free and in the public domain.
Click on the title above the beautiful flowers you want to download. A high-resolution lily drawing will open in a new window on your browser. Click on the title to print or save that lily illustration.
Vintage Lily Illustration 1-8
An 1850 orange lily drawing from the Welcome Collection.
2. Orange Lily on Black Backgroound
Another orange lily from the Welcome collection. This is an etching by John Harris 1805.
The orange lily is also called the fire lily and tiger lily. However, as you will see in this post, many varieties of lilies are called tiger lilies. It grows in mountain meadows and on hillsides of Europe from Spain to Ukraine.
This is a beautiful illustration of a yellow lily (Lilium testaceum). The image is from Edwards’ botanical register, an illustrated horticultural magazine that ran from 1815 to 1847. The botanical illustrator was Sydenham Edwards.
A seed packet with an illustration of white flowers from a botanic garden by Currie Brothers Company Seed Trade Catalog Collection 1905.
You can find more vintage seed packets here.
The white lilies are also called the Madonna lilies and are true lilies. These lilies have medicinal uses and have been cultivated for over 3000 years.
This illustration is by William Curtis from The Botanical Magazine 1794.
Another seed packet lily drawing, this time of a mountain lily. A true lily native to Japan and is sometimes called the golden rayed lily or the goldband lily.
The Showy lily is an East Asian species of plants in the lily family. It is native to southern Japan and southern China.
This is an 1897 lily drawing from Favourite flowers of garden and greenhouse by Edward Step.
8. Art Nouveau White Lily Drawing
This is an art nouveau style illustration of the white lily by Maurice Pillard-Verneuil 1903. Many more of his wonderful art nouveau floral illustrations can be found here.
Vintage Lily Images 9-17
From Curtis’s The Botanical Magazine. The lily was drawn by James Sowerby, who is well known for his fungi and mushroom illustrations.
Sometimes called tiger lily, it’s native to the mountains of central China. The flowers are orange, spotted black, and unscented.
From Curtis’s Botanical Magazine drawn by Matilda Smith 1891.
This lily is also sometimes called tiger lily. The flower is native to China, Japan, Korea, and the Russian Far East. It is widely planted as an ornamental because of its showy orange-and-black flowers.
From The florist and pomologist 1873.
Another tiger lily from North-East Asia. This yellow lily illustration is from “Flore des Serres et des Jardins de l’Europe“, (Flowers of the Greenhouses and Gardens of Europe).
This is a Japanese lily. Its native name sukashi-yuri, which literally translates as “see-through lily”, due to the gaps between its tepals.
Another lily painting from Flore des serres et des jardins de l’Europe.
14. Turks Cap Mountain Pink Lily
The flower color is typically a pink-purple, with dark spots, the flowers are scented. This lily print is from Alpen-Flora: Westalpen.
This lily has several common names, from drooping tulips to Lazarus’s Bell, snakehead, and Fritillary, to name a few. It is a Eurasian lily with a chequered pattern with purple lily flowers or is sometimes pure white.
Also commonly known as the crown imperial. “Imperialis”, literally “of the emperor”, refers to the large circle of golden flowers of the lily, reminiscent of an emperor’s crown.
This lily painting was by Sebastian Wegmayr 1857.
The flower is found in damp, lightly shaded settings such as deciduous woodland. Another lily drawing from The Botanical Magazine.
Vintage Lily Prints 18-27
The giant Himalayan lily, is the largest species of any of the lily plants, growing up to 3.5 meters high.
Another vintage lily drawing from Flore des serres et des jardins de l’Europe.
A perennial species of lily native to North America. The colorful painting is from the book Birds and Nature (1900).
20. Lilies from The Canadian horticulturist
A collection of lilies from Jane Loudon’s book “The ladies’ flower-garden of bulbous ornamental plants”, 1841. You can find many more of Jane Loudon’s bulb flower prints here
White lilies from Martin Gerlach’s The Plant in Arts and Craft 1886.
The flower in the vintage entomology illustration is a common fritillary, also known as snake’s head, a type of lily flower. The image is by John Curtis.
A Renaissance flower painting of a Turks Cap Lily by Daniel Rabel from the“Theatrum Florae”.
Amaryllis belladonna, commonly known as the “belladonna lily” or “naked lady,” blooms with fragrant, trumpet-shaped flowers atop long, leafless stems.
This print is from Joseph Paxton’s Flower Garden.
Print 26: Elizabeth Blackwell Lily
This watercolor illustration of a white lily with green leaves is from Elizabeth Blackwell’s book ” A Curious Herbal”
Print 27: Lilies Yokohama Nursery
This collection of painted lily flowers is from the Yokohama Nursery Catalogue.
Other Floral Collections
If you are looking for other flowers with Lily in the name, check out these Lily of the Valley botanical prints and these giant water lilies.
Lilies are sometimes confused with irises, check out these vintage Japanese iris paintings.
There are more lily prints in the Mark Catesby print collection, the Temple of Flora and the Maria Sibylla Merian prints.
I hope you enjoyed these beautiful vintage lily drawings and found ones that you liked. Don’t forget to check out many more of the vintage flower illustrations on Pictureboxblue. Such as the vintage orchid prints and daffodil flower drawings.
Other floral collections include tulip paintings, peony paintings and vintage pictures of poppies.
Plus there is a guide to drawing cherry blossoms.
If you fancy, you can Buy Me A Coffee Here.
Bebra Bayne
Friday 15th of July 2022
These are stunningly beautiful! Bebra Bayne Lemon Melon Art Quilts etsy.com/shop/lemonmelonartquilts
claire
Sunday 17th of July 2022
Thank you, glad you enjoyed them.
Jennifer Watson
Monday 8th of March 2021
Lovely thankyou!
claire
Tuesday 9th of March 2021
Thank you so much.
Naush Samama
Monday 8th of February 2021
Claire, these are such lovely vintage prints. Thank you for sharing with us at Meraki Link Party at Doodle Buddies. Hope to see you this Monday too. Much love Naush
claire
Tuesday 9th of February 2021
Thank you so much, Naucsh. I'm glad you enjoy them, lilies are one of my favorite flowers.
Kristine
Monday 1st of February 2021
Claire- I am so grateful for how you provide us with access to these beautiful prints. They bring me such joy and delight, and I have you to thank. I am pinning away like there is no tomorrow. Thank you again so much.
claire
Wednesday 3rd of February 2021
Thank you so much, it's really nice to hear that you enjoy the images. I plan to curate more and more wonderful vintage images.
Cecilia
Monday 1st of February 2021
These are so pretty Claire! Thanks for sharing at Vintage Charm--pinned!
claire
Wednesday 3rd of February 2021
Thank you so much, glad you enjoy them.