Category Archives: 19th Century illustrations

Free vintage illustrations from the mid 19th century era.

Vintage Illustrations of Deer, Fawns, Does, and Bucks

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vintage illustration of two deer by lake taking a drink of water  vintage illustration of a baby deer fawn

This website needs some deer.

So I sifted through the New York State Library’s public domain archives and found six really cool vintage illustrations of bucks, fawns, does, and multiple deer.

I cropped and tweaked the colors and contrast a bit to make them pop. You can find some originals here and get a little more info about these 19th-century illustrations.

antique sketchbook sketches of multiple deer

Speaking of deer, they’re everywhere, right?

I thought I’d do a little research on deer and dig up some fun facts on this popular and populous animal.

Check this out:

  • If you’re into all that spirit animal stuff, people who claim deer as their spirit animal are apparently highly sensitive with a good intuition. Other aspects include gentleness, tackling problems with maturity, and quick adaption skills. Cool!
  • Now, for some science: deer are part of the Cervidae family which is broken up into two primary groups, Cervinae and Capreolinae. Arguably, the most popular Capreolinae species are Reindeer and Moose.
  • All male deer (or bucks) have antlers. Actually, all but one. Chinese water deer males are the only deer species that do not grow antlers. Instead, this unique deer species grows long canine tusks.
  • Deer are herbivores and primarily consume a diet of young leaves, fruit, fungi (mushrooms), berries, fresh grass, and lichen.
  • The Oligocene period ushered in a proliferation of new early cervid (deer) species.

antique illustration of deer jumping in meadow

8 Deer Inspired Craft Projects You Have to Try

Need some inspiration for that next craft or classroom project? Check out these clever and creative deer projects you can do with minimal supplies. Free vintage illustration of a lone deer in the woods

 

vintage illustration of a male buck deer and female doe deer

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Whimsical Vintage Illustration of a Fairy Grotto

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Free vintage illustration of a fairy grotto

Hey!

I wanted to pop in quickly to share this awesome 19th-century illustration of a fairy grotto I found through the New York State Library.

I love this image. It sort of reminds me of The Last Unicorn, you know, that 80’s animation where the band America did the entire soundtrack with the London Symphony Orchestra.

Anyhoo.

This image was originally published in 1867 by Currier & Ives, a 19th-century American printmaking company. There isn’t too much information available about this artwork, but you can read more about it here.

Late 19th-Century Illustrations of Gems and Precious Stones

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Who loves rocks and minerals? Free scientific illustrations of rocks and minerals

I most certainly do 🙂

Recently, I went to the latest gems and minerals show held at the New York State Museum. It was awesome.

And a few years ago I was lucky enough to attend the rocks and minerals show in Tuscan, Arizona, the largest of its kind in the United States. That was an awesome show too, as I came away with some great mini trilobites at a fraction of the price.

Tip: vendors ALWAYS discount on the last day!

Anyways, I’m getting off track. I clearly had rocks and minerals on the brain, so I went searching through 19th-century mineralogy books and found some wonderful illustrations for you to use and share.

These are my favorite illustrations from the book, Gems and Precious Stones of North America. But you can view the entire book here where you’ll find more images too.

Antique rocks and minerals illustrations

 

Who Wrote This Book Anyway?

The vintage book, Gems and Precious Stones of North America, was written and illustrated by the 19th-century mineralogist, George Frederick Kunz.

Kunz was born in 1856 in New York City and harbored a love for rocks and minerals from an early age.

In fact, by the time he was a teenager, Kunz had collected thousands of specimens and sold them to the University of Minnesota.

Though a working mineralogist and collector, Kunz never went to college to pursue a degree in the field. Instead, he taught himself through his own field research and whatever mineralogy books he could find.

By 23, Kunz was already vice president of Tiffany & Co.

During his tenure with Tiffany & Co., Kunz discovered a new gem which was aptly named, Kunzite.

Kunz founded the Museums of the Peaceful Arts, was president of the American Metric Association, and was a lead research curator for the Museum of Natural History in New York City.

vintage illustrations of precious stones and gems

Shop For Rocks & Mineral Gifts

With your purchase of any Cost Plus World Market product below, FreeVintageillustrations.com will receive a commission. This is one way to support the site and score some really awesome gifts too 🙂

      

                   

      

19th Century Decorative Design Illustrations

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antique-decorative-design-illustration-3 antique-decorative-design-illustration-4

I love antique art books, especially art supply catalogs and instructional materials.

The 19th-century book, The Art of Decorative Design, discusses symmetry in nature and botany when designing decorative collectibles, motifs, etc. I just skimmed around honestly, so there’s definitely more to it than that. I saw another chapter that talked about how to express emotion in decorative design which looked interesting too. You can check out the entire book here.

There were a few illustrations that caught my eye, so I cropped and brightened them up a bit for you to use. I thought these would make great stencil designs for screen printing. You could also use them for invitations, playing card designs, stamp designs, mixed media painting, and other fun stuff.

Antique Illustrations of Houseplants From 1807

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A free antique botanical illustration of a round-headed buddlea plant Enjoy this free vintage botanical illustration of a calla lily Vintage botanical illustration of a magnolia houseplant from 1807

Personally, I love having lots of houseplants around.

My dream home would basically be an inside porch with an indoor garden.

Aside from aesthetics, houseplants apparently have the following benefits according to iGrow.org too:

  • NASA studies show that houseplants “scrub indoor air pollutants” and may even decrease the amount of carbon monoxide in the air.
  • Houseplants actually recycle carbon monoxide through photosynthesis which helps us breathe better indoors.
  • Plants increase humidity in your home, 97% of their own moisture to be exact, which is especially helpful during those dry summer and winter seasons.
  • Studies show that surrounding yourself with houseplants improves your memory and can increase your knowledge retention by 20%!

Well, that’s awesome.

But what do I love more than houseplants?

Vintage botanical illustrations of houseplants!

And lucky for me, I found lots of colorful houseplant illustrations from this colored plate book from 1807. I picked out my favorites, cleaned them up with Pixlr, and posted them below for you to use.

 

 

Antique Scientific Illustrations of Shells

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Free antique scientific illustration of shell variety from 18th century science catalogI used to live by the beach and almost always came back home with pockets full of colorful shells. I miss those days, so I decided to dig around the public domain for some really great shell illustrations to clean up and share.

There are beautiful scientific illustrations of shells hiding out in dusty science publications from the 18th and 19th century. With so many to choose from, I selected a few of my most favorite illustrations for this post. These shells were selected from a variety of publications and catalogs focused on natural history and conchology, which is the study of mollusk shells.

Scientific illustrations are some of the most versatile works in the public domain. They make great material for school projects, crafts, classroom visual aids, posters, educational websites, blogs, and books, but they’re also handy for crafting DIY greeting cards, decoupage, wall art, and many more creative projects.

Antique Scientific Illustrations of Early Electronic Medical Equipment

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This is a free vintage scientific illustration of a medical galvanometerAn early fascination with antique scientific illustrations helped inspire me to get into digital curation and archiving. These historic illustrations offer us a fascinating look into how science and medicine were practiced and understood in the 19th century. So much has changed, and it’s exciting to look back at how far science and medicine has evolved since the mid-1800s.

These particular antique images represent the early electronic machines and equipment used in hospitals in the 1860s. Selected from a medical equipment catalog published in 1868, the following scientific illustrations feature an old fashioned galvanometer, single-coil medical instruments, compound magnetic instruments, and magneto-electric machines.

So what they heck are these?

Apparently Galvanometers were used to detect electrical currents. This machine featured a single-coil construction, and when an electric current passed through the coil, it would trigger the pointer to move. Doctors would also use compound magnetic instruments to treat conditions related to the nervous system too.

Today, these vintage medical illustrations reside in the public domain and can be used for a wide variety of creative projects. Add them to your blog, email newsletters, online history lessons, and social media posts, or create unique invitations, greeting cards, and other printed products.

 

Geektastic Gifts Featuring Scientific Medical Illustrations

 

Human Anatomy Skeletons by Leondardo da Vinci 20 Oz Large Ceramic Coffee Mug    Vintage 1800s Heart Retro Cardiac Anatomy Hearts Adult Apron   antique medical instruments greeting card