Preview
Scrivener
Daniel Peterman (1797-1871)
Decorator
Daniel Peterman (1797-1871)
Accession Number
PAG1998.205
Date Range
1851-1864
Description
Taufschein with women in bottom corners in red and white dresses, both holding large flowering vines, pair of birds at top center under small cluster of grapes.
Dimensions in Inches
13 1/4 x 16 1/4
Dimensions in Centimeters
34 x 41
Materials
Watercolor and ink on wove paper
Technique
Drawn, Hand colored, Hand lettered
Scrivener Location
Codorus Township, York County, Pennsylvania
Decorator Location
Codorus Township, York County, Pennsylvania
Associated Places
Codorus Township, York County, Pennsylvania
Category
Birth and baptismal certificate (Geburts-und-Taufschein)
Motifs
birds, tulips, flowers, stars, women, leaves
Associated Names
Jacob Fisher, Elisabeth Mesemor, Mandilla, A. Berg
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
English cursive
Language
English
Transcription
Certificate of Birth/and Baptism./
To these two persons as Jacob Fisher and his wife Elisabeth/a born Mesemer was born a Daughter to the World on the 14/day of March A.D. 1851. this Child was born in Codorus/township York County State of Pennsylvania in North America./And was baptised on the day of March A.D. 1851 by Revd /Mr A. Berg and received the Name Mandilla sponsers/were, the parints./
Our souls he washed with his blood. As water makes the body clean./And the good Spirit of our God Decends like purifying rain.
Comment
Daniel Peterman was among the last major fraktur artists to entirely hand-draw his certificates into the mid-nineteenth century. Peterman worked in York County and continued using the earlier horizontal format for his Taufscheine. Peterman, who worked as a schoolmaster, stone cutter, and laborer, used both English and German in his work. He frequently drew images of women on his certificates, which he sometimes labeled with names. The names have not been connected to any that appear on the certificates however. He also typically placed the women standing on a cloud, very similar to the printed angel certificates that Johan Ritter produced.
Condition
Good
Published
Lloyd, June Burk. Faith and Family: Pennsylvania German Heritage in York County Area Fraktur. (York, Pa.: York County Heritage Trust, 2001). p. 77. Minardi, Lisa. Roots: Ursinus College and the Pennsylvania Germans (Trappe, Pa.: Historic Trappe, 2019), p. 91, fig. 3.65.
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/
This object has been digitized in a public-private partnership. As part of this partnership, the partners have agreed to limit commercial uses of this digital representation of the object by third parties. You can, without permission, copy, modify, distribute, display, or perform the digital object, for non-commercial uses. For any other permissible uses, please review the terms and conditions of the organization that has made the item available.
