E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Lely (Sir Peter),
the painter, was the son of Vander Vaas or Faes, of Westphalia, whose house had a lily for its sign. Both father and son went by the nickname of Le-lys (the Lily), a sobriquet which Peter afterwards adopted as his cognomen.
