Object Number 1958.0120.011 A

Object Name

Fraktur (Birth certificate)

Title

Birth certificate (Geburts-schein) of Henrich Landis

Category

Works on Paper

Credit Line/Donor

Museum purchase with funds provided by Henry Francis du Pont

Creator (Role)

Karl Muench (Scrivener and decorator)
01/07/1769-01/08/1833
References: Earnest, Papers for Birth Dayes, pp. 292-94; Evans, "Documented Fraktur in the Winterthur Collection: Part II," Magazine Antiques (March 1973), vol. 103, no. 3, pp. 539-49. Earnests record Muench's birthplace as Mettenheim in France, other sources say Mettenheim in Wartenburg, Germany; Mettenheim does not appear in Getty's Thesaurus of Geographic Names. Muench was born to French Huguenot parents who fled to Germany to escape persecution. He fought against, and was wounded by, the invading French armies in the early 1790s, leaving him with a partially paralyzed left arm. He was not an ordained minister, but possibly conducted church services.

Place of Origin

Elizabeth Township, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Mid-Atlantic, United States, North America

Origin Notes

Primary creation place is birthplace on certificate.

Secondary Place of Origin

Dauphin or Northumberland, Pennsylvania, Mid-Atlantic, United States, North America

Secondary Origin Notes

Muench first taught at Schaefferstown in Lebanon County around 1799, then taught briefly at Rehrersburg, Berks County, and in 1804 became the schoolmaster in the Lykens Valley of Dauphin and Northumberland Counties from 1804 until his death in 1833.

Date

1800-1830

Materials

Ink; Watercolor; Paper

Techniques

Drawn, Hand colored, Hand lettered, Painted

Dimensions (inches)

8.1 (H) , 13.2 (W) , 7.3 (Image H) , 12.6 (Image W)

Dimensions (centimeters)

20.5 (H) , 33.6 (W) , 7.3 (Image H) , 12.6 (Image W)

Measurement Notes

H taken 1¼" from left. W taken 2¾" from top. Image H taken 2¼" from left. Image W taken 1½" from top. Chain intervals: 2.3-2.6 cm; 9 laid lines per cm.

Watermark

CB

Coloring

Hand colored with watercolors

Object Description

Text available soon.

Bibliography and Bibliographic Notes

[Article] Evans, Nancy Goyne. 03//1973 Documented Fraktur in the Winterthur Collection: Part II. Antiques. 103 (3): 539-49.
• Published as fig. 2, p. 540.
[Book] Stoudt, John Joseph. 1964 Early Pennsylvania Arts and Crafts.
• Published as fig. 319, p. 324.
[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. 568. For more info. on this artist, see pp. 566-568.