Hansel and Gretel

Date1823

OriginAmerica, Pennsylvania, Bucks County (probably)

MediumWatecolor and ink on wove paper

DimensionsPrimary Support: 12 3/8 x 15 13/16in. (31.4 x 40.2cm) and Framed: 15 7/8 x 19 1/16in.

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1981.305.3

DescriptionA horizontal format composition divided into three vertical sections by ropelike lines that create a large center section containing script flanked by two narrower sections. Each side section is sub-divided into a longer upper and shorter lower section by a horizontal bar. A man stands just above the bar on the right, a woman on the left. The figures are labeled at about head height. A potted flowering plant appears below each figure. Above each figure are a bird, foliage branch, and flower bloom, each side distinct. The figures each hold a flowering branch in the inside hand. Confrontal birds appear at center top in the large center section, and they are flanked by flowering branches. Colored dots run down each inside edge of the center section. The man wears a black top hat, rust-colored tail coat, figured waistcoat, and knee breeches. A small potted flowering plant sets on the ground beside him. The woman wears a figured dress with a green shawl or capelet and red, cross-hatched bodice. Cross-hatching and circular designs surround her face, perhaps representing a bonnet ruffle.

Artist unidentified.

The picture was acquired in a modern, 1 9/16-inch flat oak frame with a half-round outer edge, painted flat black. Soon after acquisition, AARFAM replaced the preceding frame with a modern reproduction, 1 15/16-inch grain-painted one with raised corner blocks made by Bob Shaffer.
Label TextThe brief inscriptions beside the two figures identify them as "Hansel" and "Gretel," generalized German names for a boy and girl, much like the English "Jack" and "Jill."

The wording in the central section is a flirtatious dialogue between the two figures. Yet the spacing of the words suggests that they may be read in a second (and as yet undeciphered) manner. Such word games delighted both young and old in many Pennsylvania German societies.
InscribedIn ink in fraktur-style lettering are the following inscriptions:

[Beside the female figure on the left]: "Ich bin das Gretel"
[In the left column]: "Guten Abend mein/schön Dank mein/Heunt ist der erste abend dass/Warum Bist nit/wann ich gleich kommen wer/Hättst/Probieren steht gar eben an steh/heunt nit was wilt/Ich, will dir küssen dem rothen/es braucht nit/Gelt du hast mich gestern Sehen/Es verdreusst mich. Ja un thut mir/Geh weck ich wills nimmer Thun/Heunt nät/stehst du nit auf und Lässt mich nein/magst Thun".

[Beside the male figure on the right]: "Ich bin der Hansel"
[In the right column]: "schatz/Herr/ich dich gesehen habe/Kommen ein/hättst mich mehr gelassen ein/Probirt/auf und lass Mich nein/Darinnen Thun/Mund dazu dein bäckelein/bey eine anden stehen/weh geld es verdreusst dich/steh auf und Lass Mich nein/so geh ich zu einer Andern nein/Geschriben Im Jahr 1823"

The English translation reads as follows.
Beside the female figure on the left is "I am Gretel"; beside the male figure on the right is "I am Hansel." The dialogue between the two figures reads: "Good evening my dear. Thank you sir. Today is the first evening that I have seen you. Why do you not come in? If I had come right away, you would not have let me in. You should have tried. Try was what I was to do. Stand up and let me in. Not today. What do you want to do inside? I want to kiss your red mouth and also your little cheeks. It is not necessary. Isn't it true, you saw me yesterday standing with another? It annoys me, yes, and makes me sad. It annoys you, doesn't it? Go away because I do not want to do it ever again. Get up and let me in. Not today. If you don't get up and let me in, I will go to someone else. You may. Written in the year 1823."

ProvenanceAlong with acc. no. 1981.305.2, the fraktur descended in the family of Vernon Schreiner of Blackwood, NJ, who was AARFAM's source. (1981.305.2 is a birth and baptismal certificate for Enoch Scheib, who was Schreiner's great-grandfather. Note, however, that 1981.305.2 and 1981.305.3 were created by two different artists. Enoch Scheib was born in Bucks County, and it is thought likely that both fraktur were made in Bucks County.)