Birth and Baptismal Certificate
- Date
- 1848
- Material
- Watercolor and ink
- Classification
- Drawings & watercolors
- Collection
- Prints, Drawings, and Photographs
- Current Location
- Not on view
- Dimensions
- sheet: 12 5/16 x 15 1/8 in. (31.3 x 38.4 cm)
- Credit Line
- Museum Purchase
- Rights
- Public Domain
- Object Number
- 164:1953
NOTES
Brightly colored peacocks and parrots perch on Levi G. Schaffer’s (1847–1875) birth and baptismal certificate. This highly decorated manuscript is known as a fraktur drawing, named for a type of German script that uses “fractured” pen strokes. German immigrants brought this tradition to Pennsylvania, where it blossomed into a rich form of artistic expression used to commemorate life’s milestones. The heavy script records details of Levi’s baptism, accompanied by verses from a Lutheran hymn in lighter script below.
The artist Francis Portzline lived in central Pennsylvania near Levi’s family. He became a schoolteacher and an innovative fraktur artist after immigrating to the area around 1800.
The artist Francis Portzline lived in central Pennsylvania near Levi’s family. He became a schoolteacher and an innovative fraktur artist after immigrating to the area around 1800.
We regularly update records, which may be incomplete. If you have additional information, please contact us at provenance@slam.org.