Old water lilies as pretty as ever and all arted up. Plates from John Fisk Allen’s 1854 work “Victoria Regia; or the Great Water Lily of America”. William Sharp, illustrator. Published and printed in Boston by Dutton and Wentworth.

*Opening flower.* Plate 2, Page 2 of *Victoria Regia; or the Great Water Lily of America*. 1853. American. John Fisk Allen, author. William Sharp, illustrator. Published and printed in Boston, Massachusetts by Dutton and Wentworth. Collections of and digitalized by the Missouri Botanical Garden. In the public domain due to age. via https://archive.org/details/mobot31753000796083/page/2/mode/1up

*Intermediate stages of bloom.* Plate 4, Page 4 of *Victoria Regia; or the Great Water Lily of America*. 1853. American. John Fisk Allen, author. William Sharp, illustrator. Published and printed in Boston, Massachusetts by Dutton and Wentworth. Collections of and digitalized by the Missouri Botanical Garden. In the public domain due to age. via https://archive.org/details/mobot31753000796083/page/4/mode/1up

*Complete bloom.* Plate 5, Page 5 of *Victoria Regia; or the Great Water Lily of America*. 1853. American. John Fisk Allen, author. William Sharp, illustrator. Published and printed in Boston, Massachusetts by Dutton and Wentworth. Collections of and digitalized by the Missouri Botanical Garden. In the public domain due to age. via https://archive.org/details/mobot31753000796083/page/5/mode/1up

*View of the form of the flower mentioned on the thirteenth page.* Plate 6, Page 6 of *Victoria Regia; or the Great Water Lily of America*. 1853. American. John Fisk Allen, author. William Sharp, illustrator. Published and printed in Boston, Massachusetts by Dutton and Wentworth. Collections of and digitalized by the Missouri Botanical Garden. In the public domain due to age. via https://archive.org/details/mobot31753000796083/page/6/mode/1up

Botanical studies, all apparently of native California plants. Hand-colored silver prints. Lena Scott Harris, maker (1873-1956). All part of one lot and from a recent Swann catalogue. They are labeled on the back but that information was not provided.

Hand-colored silver print of a native California floral specimen, one of a group of 65 hand-colored botanical studies, all apparently California native plants. ca. 1930s. American. Lena Scott Harris, maker (1873-1956). Signed on the lower right. © Estate of the Artist. Image © Swann Auction Galleries. via https://live.swanngalleries.com/lots/view/4-8QARTF/lena-scott-harris-1873-1956-group-of-approximately-65-hand-colored-botanical-studies-all-apparently-california-native-plants

Images taken from an album of watercolor drawings of plants, insects and fruit, nineteenth century. Chinese school. Some are captioned in Chinese.

Melon. Part of a 19th century Chinese school album of watercolor drawings of plants, insects and fruit. Artist not known. Image © 2022 Sotheby’s. Artwork itself in the public domain to age. https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2022/the-library-of-henry-rogers-broughton-2nd-baron-fairhaven-part-ii-2/chinese-school-album-of-watercolour-drawings-of-2

Part of a 19th century Chinese school album of watercolor drawings of plants, insects and fruit. Artist not known. Image © 2022 Sotheby’s. Artwork itself in the public domain to age. https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2022/the-library-of-henry-rogers-broughton-2nd-baron-fairhaven-part-ii-2/chinese-school-album-of-watercolour-drawings-of-2

The album was in the collections of Winifred Bois. Winifred Bois was the daughter of Frederic William Bois, (1848-1921). Frederic was an amateur photographer who exhibited at the Paris Exhibition of 1900, and whose family had held a prominent place in the mercantile life of Ceylon since the 1860s. Winifred traveled extensively in the Far East. She collected Chinese school watercolors.

Flower (and avocado) pictures from different volumes of “L’illustration horticole journal special des serres et des jardins” by Charles Lemaire, Jean Jules Linden, Ambroise Verschaffelt, et al which came out between 1854 and the 1890s. Part of a recent Sotheby’s Auction.