Birth Record for Martha Hillier (1774-1850)

Date1774-1788

Attributed to The New Jersey Artist (ac. 1774-1788) )

OriginAmerica, New Jersey, Burlington County

MediumWatercolor and ink on laid paper

DimensionsPrimary Support: 7 3/4 x 9 11/16in. (19.7 x 24.6cm) and Framed: 10 9/16 x 12 9/16in., 1.1cm

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1963.305.6

DescriptionA birth record divided by rows of ornamentation into three horizontal bands, the lowermost being sub-divided vertically into three sections, and the center of these being sub-divided horizontally into two. The subject's name appears in the uppermost band in large block letters, with three berried sprays filling blank spaces. The dots over the two "i"s in "Hillier are ornamented. The subject's birth date and parents' names appear in the second, narrower band. Large flower blooms fill the side sections of the lowermost band, some of their petals being demarcated with dashed lines. Between the blooms, the lower section bears two lines of script while the upper shows a basket of flowers above two winged angel heads, the whole between small figures of a large-eared [horse?] and a [dog?]. A border of solid blue watercolor surrounds the entire record.

The 1 7/16-inch gilded, cyma recta frame is probably an addition or replacement from the mid-nineteenth century.
Label TextTwenty-one other Burlington County, New Jersey, certificates compositioally and stylistically related to this one have been noted to date, a majority of them done for members of the Society of Friends. Nevertheless, it is unclear how many artists created the individual examples. Style, geography, and chronology suggest three groupings and more than one hand.

The eight certificates most closely associated with Martha Hillier's were all made for children whose parents were Friends, five of them being made for double first cousins of Martha's (Mary, John, Isaac, Elizabeth, and Hannah Hillier, who were all children of John and Frances Hillier). A sixth certificate, for John and Frances Hillier's youngest child, Rebecca, is assumed but has not yet been recorded.

Martha was the daughter of Isaac Hillier (1734-1805) and his wife, Sarah Haines (1737-?). Isaac and John Hillier were brothers, and Sarah and Frances Haines Hillier were sisters, hence the next generation's double cousin designation. In later life, Martha Hillier (also spelled Hilyard) married William Engard (1772-1843); the couple lived in Northampton (now called Mount Holly), New Jersey, and had three girls: Hannah (1807-?), Sarah (1810-?), and Rachel (1814-?).

InscribedIn freehand in ink, in three separate horizontal bands, are the words: "MARTHA HILLIER/Daughter of Isaac Hillier & Sarah his wife/Was Born December ye 5th Anno Domini, 1774/Perhaps this my Name, and Age may Shew/When I am Dead, and in my Grave below." The first line is in block letters, the second in slightly more forward-slanting block letters, and the third in script.
MarkingsElizabeth Hollyday's 1974 conservation report includes the word "watermark." However, examination 3/6/2012 revealed no discernible watermark in the primary support.

A press-printed certificate testifying to John A. Stockton's membership in the Bank Clerks' Beneficial Association of Philadelphia, completed in 1870, was found in the frame behind the object, removed, and stored separately in the object file, which see.
ProvenanceHerbert Schiffer Antiques, Whitford, Pa.