Preview
Accession Number
PAG1998.150
Date Range
1785-1795
Description
Hand-drawn Taufschein with drawing of Adam and Eve, floral border with birds on sides copied from printed Taufscheine.
Dimensions in Inches
12 1/2 x 15
Dimensions in Centimeters
32 x 38
Materials
Watercolor and ink on laid paper
Technique
Drawn, Hand lettered
Motifs
flowers, birds, religious, tulips, floral
Associated Names
Margretha Fetzberger, Johann, Elisabetha
Rights
Please contact the Philip and Muriel Berman Museum of Art at Ursinus College for permissions which fall outside of educational fair use.
Source
Ursinus College Library Special Collections and the Philip and Muriel Berman Museum of Art
Provenance
Pennsylvania Folklife Society
Script/Text
Fraktur lettering
Language
German
Transcription
Adam/im parathis
Eva/im parathis
Margretha Fetzbergerin/Ist gebohren im Jahre 1778 Febry. 27th/Freÿtags Abends um 8 Uhr/Ihre Taufzeugen sind gewesen; nemlich/Johannes [U ?] [und] seine Frau Elisabetha
[within urn handles]: M. F. [probably for Margretha Fetzberger]
Translation
Adam in paradise
Eva in paradise
Margretha Fetzbergerin was born in the year 1778 February 27th Friday evening at 8 o’clock. Her baptismal sponsors were namely, Johannes [U ?] and his wife Elisabetha.
[initials]
Comment
Drawings of Adam and Eve on Taufscheine are extremely rare. This piece was done by an artist very familiar with the work of the Sussel-Washington artist, if not by this artist himself. The Sussel-Washington artist usually drew human figures with elongated eyes, a curled nostril, red circles for cheeks, and long, skinny arms bent at the elbows, very similar to this piece. However, as his figures are usually elaborately dressed, it is difficult to compare them to this drawing of Adam and Eve. The resemblance between the red fruit or flowers on the tree here and some of the floral embellishments used by the Sussel-Washington artist is also quite remarkable. The large urn at the bottom center appears to have been drawn by the same artist who made the Adam and Eve. The side borders, however, appear to have been added by a different artist who copied them from the printed Taufscheine produced by the Ephrata Cloister beginning c. 1784. The text in red ink also appears to be somewhat squeezed in, so it too perhaps was added after the original portions. Unfortunately the scrivener left out the location of the child’s birth, and the surname of the sponsors is mostly lost. The labeling of the picture of Adam and Eve, which seems to be by a different hand than the red ink inscription, was likely contemporaneous to the initial drawing.
Condition
Good
Published
Minardi, Lisa. Roots: Ursinus College and the Pennsylvania Germans (Trappe, Pa.: Historic Trappe, 2019). p. 66, fig. 3.40.
File Format
.jpeg
Type
image
Keywords
fraktur, Pennsylvania German, Pennsylvania Dutch, folk art, illuminated manuscript, taufschein
Image Location
Rights Statement
No Copyright - Non-Commercial Use Only. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-NC/1.0/
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