Preview
Decorator
Francis Portzline (1771-1857)
Accession Number
PAG1998.017
Date Range
1800-1815
Description
Circle of small red, black, and yellow hearts at top center, red birds with red and yellow checkered wings at top, black birds with red and yellow checkered wings at bottom, two overlapping hearts at bottom center of large central heart.
Dimensions in Inches
9 1/2 x 11 1/2
Dimensions in Centimeters
24 x 29
Materials
Watercolor and ink on laid paper
Technique
Drawn, Hand colored, Hand lettered
Decorator Location
Juniata, Perry and Union Counties, Pennsylvania, York, Pennsylvania
Motifs
hearts, stars, birds, laurel
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, English cursive
Language
English
Transcription
Certificate of birth & Christning
On the day of in the year of our Lord/ a was born to thes two Parents/ and his wife, before/marriage Miss this child was born in/ township, in the County of ______/and State of Pennsylvania and was baptised by/minister and received the name/of on the day of/ in the year of our Lord witness present to holy act of baptism
Comment
Francis Portzline operated a store and worked as a surveyor in York County, Pennsylvania from 1804-1812. He then served as a schoolmaster in Union County (now Snyder County). Portzline made fraktur in both English and German. He often signed his work, but in the absence of a signature his fraktur is often distinguished by the Celtic knots that he drew. Portzline made both vertical and horizontal Taufscheine, frequently positioning the text within a large heart located slightly above the center of the page to allow room for decorations.
Condition
Poor - torn
Bibliographical Reference
Earnest, 623-624
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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