Object Number 1956.0576 A

Object Name

Fraktur (Birth and baptismal certificate)

Title

Birth and baptismal certificate (Geburts und Taufschein) of Hanna Schöner

Category

Works on Paper

Credit Line/Donor

Bequest of Henry Francis du Pont

Creator (Role)

Ehre Vater Artist (Scrivener and decorator)
References: Bivins, "Fraktur in the South: An Itinerant Artist," Journal of Early Southern Decorative Arts (November 1975), vol. 1, no. 2: 1-23; Kolbe and Holcomb, "Fraktur in the 'Dutch Fork' Area of South Carolina," Journal of Early Southern Decorative Arts (November 1979), vol. 5, no. 2: 36-51; Earnest, Papers for Birth Dayes, pp. 123-26; . The Ehre Vater Artist appears to made fraktur over a large geographic area, from birth certificates in Mennonite settlements in the Niagara peninsula of Canada near Lake Erie to Taufscheine in just about every German-settled county in Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. He is one of a few fraktur artists who produced certificates for Moravians (although on at least one certificate the familiy is identified as Lutheran). Winterthur's collections include an example made for Hanna Schöner in Bethlehem Township, Pennsylvania (56.576a) and one for Jacob Meyer in Berkeley County, Virginia (Downs Collection, Doc. 782).

Place of Origin

Bethlehem Township, Northampton, Pennsylvania, Mid-Atlantic, United States, North America

Origin Notes

The location on the certificate reads "Settelment" County and Bethlehem Township. Bethlehem Township is located within Northampton County; there is no Settlement County in Pennsylvania. Settlement may have been a reference to the Moravian settlement of Bethlehem, as opposed to the more broad geographic area of Bethlehem Township. The Ehre Vater artist appears to have been an itinerant who passed through this area.

Date

1785-1810

Materials

Ink; Watercolor; Paper (laid)

Techniques

Drawn, Hand colored, Hand lettered, Painted

Dimensions (inches)

15.9 (H) , 13 (W) , 15.6 (Image H) , 12.6 (Image W)

Dimensions (centimeters)

40.4 (H) , 33.1 (W) , 15.6 (Image H) , 12.6 (Image W)

Measurement Notes

H at left. W at bottom. Chain intervals: 2.5 cm; 9 laid lines per cm.

Watermark

Bottom center: "C. Unkley" or "G. UNKLEY"

Coloring

Hand colored with watercolors

Object Description

Text available soon.

Bibliography and Bibliographic Notes

[Article] Evans, Nancy Goyne. 02//1973 Documented Fraktur in the Winterthur collection, Part I. Antiques. 103 (2): 307-18.
• Published as pl. IV, pp. 315 and 317.
[Book] Earnest, Russell D. & Earnest, Corinne P. 1997 Papers for Birth Dayes: Guide to the Fraktur Artists and Scriveners. 2 vols. 909.
• Published on p. 227; for more info. on this artist, see pp. 225-228.
[Article] Bivins, John Franklin. "Fraktur in the South: An Itinerant Artist". Journal of Early Southern Decorative Arts. 1 (2)
• Article on the Ehre Vater artist.
[Article] Kolbe, Christian & Holcomb, Brent. 11//1979 "Fraktur in the 'Dutch Fork' Area of of South Carolina". Journal of Early Southern Decorative Arts. 5 (2): 36-51.
• More info. on Ehre Vater artist.