Taufschein for Johannes Dotterec. 183115 1/8 x 12 "
Frame: 20 5/8 x 17 3/4 x 5/8 "Watercolor and ink on paperGift of Ralph Esmerian2013.1.320From Northampton County. Portrays a seated man holding a bird and facing a woman slightly smaller seated in a similar chair. A flower vine grows next to man. Two pinwheel motifs above the figures serve to underline motto. A yellow border with black dashes frames the piece and a green line separates the figures from the script below.
fraktur1547623952P1.2001.212Northhampton County (or Bird-in-the-Hand) ArtistBooks/Manuscripts/Information ArtifactsThe American Folk Art Museum believes this work to be in the public domain.Pennsylvania GermanMotto in arched band above: "One bird in the hand is worth two in the forest"; Translation of text below: "To these two married spouses namely Jacob Dottern & his wife Sara, born Serfassin, a son has been born to the world Dec. 25 in the year of our Lord 1831 in [?]hill Township Northhampton County state of Pa. and received by holdy baptism the name of Johannes. The witnesses Philip Dottern &
his wife Susanna To these two married spouses a daughter has been born"A 216United StatesPennsylvaniaWorks on PapereMuseum - Collection Highlights
Philadelphia Antiques Show catalogue (1976) pl. 10
Robert Bishop, Folk Painters of America (New York: E.P. Dutton, 1979), fig. 40
Young America: A Folk Art History. Jean Lipman, Elizabeth V. Warren and Robert Bishop. New York: Hudson Hills Press in association with the Museum of American Folk Art, 1986, illustrated fig. 8.14, p.140.
Info only: Russell D. and Corinne P. Earnest, papers for Birth Dayes: Guide to the Fraktur Artists and Scriveners, vol. II (East Berlin, Pa.: Russell D. Earnest Associates, 1997), pp575-576Pennsylvaina germanThe term Fraktur comprises a number of embellished calligraphic forms produced within Germanic communities in America. Because they were commissioned or received from active members of their own community, fraktur is rarely signed. This Taufschein, or birth certificate, is distinctive for the fresh clear colors and graphic cartoon–like imagery that illustrates the maxim “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush”—or, as translated here, “in the woods.” The so-called Bird-in-the-Hand Artist is also known as the Northampton County Artist because the texts refer to families in that Pennsylvania region.
Stacy C. Hollander, "Taufschein for Johannes Dottere," exhibition label for Jubilation|Rumination: Life, Real and Imagined. Stacy C. Hollander, curator. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2012.
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated with new research. Records are reviewed and revised, and the American Folk Art Museum welcomes additional information.
To help improve this record, please email photoservices@folkartmuseum.orgActive c. 1816-1837. (Earnest); fraktur by same hand in the collection of Peter TillouP1.2001.21218261836 2013 1 32 Pennsylvaina germanThe term Fraktur comprises a number of embellished calligraphic forms produced within Germanic communities in America. Because they were commissioned or received from active members of their own community, fraktur is rarely signed. This Taufschein, or birth certificate, is distinctive for the fresh clear colors and graphic cartoon–like imagery that illustrates the maxim “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush”—or, as translated here, “in the woods.” The so-called Bird-in-the-Hand Artist is also known as the Northampton County Artist because the texts refer to families in that Pennsylvania region.
Stacy C. Hollander, "Taufschein for Johannes Dottere," exhibition label for Jubilation|Rumination: Life, Real and Imagined. Stacy C. Hollander, curator. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2012.
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated with new research. Records are reviewed and revised, and the American Folk Art Museum welcomes additional information.
To help improve this record, please email photoservices@folkartmuseum.orgActive c. 1816-1837. (Earnest); fraktur by same hand in the collection of Peter Tillou