Birth Record for Sara Harley (1791-1869)

Dateca. 1820 possibly (see n. 2)

Artist John Van Minian (active ca. 1790)

OriginAmerica, Pennsylvania, Montgomery County

MediumWatercolor and ink on laid paper.

DimensionsPrimary Support: 15 1/4 x 12 1/4in. (38.7 x 31.1cm) and Framed: 18 1/8 x 15 1/4 x 1in.

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1958.305.14

DescriptionA vertical format birth certificate composed of a central arched block that encloses a statement of the subject's birth. Hearts in all four corners contain verse inscriptions in script. A spread eagle appears within the arch at the top flanked by two suns and two all-seeing eyes. Below the eagle, flanking the subject's name, are bust-length profile portraits of women facing one another. To either side, outside the arched block, flowering vines with clover-like foliage twine upwards from pots. More flowering vines sprout from a geometric device at the bottom center, and two sprigs of clover-like foliage emerge from the bottoms of all four hearts. The colors of the piece are muted reds, ochres, and browns.

The 1 3/4-inch unpainted and molded pine frame is probably a modern replacement.
Label TextSeveral factors identify Van Minian as a man who straddled two cultural worlds. He executed Fraktur in both German and English, and while his "fractured," Gothic-style lettering is typical of polished German-speaking scriveners, his phrasing often sounds quite English, such as, in this case, his statement that Sara Harley "commenced her mortal existence" (rather than "was born into the world"). Some of his records for births and marriages include family registers, a tradition more often associated with English-speaking families than German-speaking ones.

Patriotic symbols (such as the spread eagle on Sara Harley's certificate) abound in Van Minian's work. Other oft-used motifs include the clover-like foliage on this piece's twining vine and its profile figures. (He created half- and full-length figures as well as the bust-length type shown here.) The inscriptions within the hearts seem to have been taken from a poem, but no specific source has been identified.

Van Minian's pieces were done for subjects born in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, and even Vermont (but bear in mind that he actually may not have traveled to all the sites mentioned on his records). His unequivocal signature on Sara Harley's record forms the basis for about twenty stylistic attributions [n. 1].

Sara Harley was the fourth of twelve children born to Samuel Harley (1758-1839) and his wife, Catherine Sauer Harley (1761-1823) of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, where they attended the Brethren Meeting House in Franconia Township. Sara later married Samuel B. Johnson, and she died on November 1, 1869.

InscribedWritten in ink in script at upper left is "Done by me John Van Minian."

The script inscription at the center beneath the eagle reads: "Epluribus Unium."

Written in Gothic-style lettering as the title and main body of the text is: "Sara harley/She Commenced her/mortal Existence on/the forteenth day of may/in the year one thousand/seven hundred and Nine/ty one."

The heart at upper left is inscribed: "Says David to Solomon/with his heart full of love/since we two are chosen/by the powers above that/great architecture of/honour we see/he gave/all/the."

The heart at upper right reads: "Pattrens/in writing/to me king solomon a letter/to Tyre did send requesting/king Hiram for him to be/friend he was willing for/to join and relieve/send him/that/[illegible]/[illegible].

The heart at lower left reads: "Craftsman called hir/ =am the Brave he was a/son of a widdow of the dau/=ghters of Dan and in every/particular he acted a/man ---."

The heart at bottom right reads: "All things was/put to him/found Nothing a miss he ---/Exceeded them all in the Casting/of Brass he cast us two fine pil =/ = lars Eighteen Cubits in hight/he finished them off/and he/set them/[upright.]" See n. 1.
MarkingsNo watermark was noted in past conservation reports.
ProvenanceGeorge Horace Lorimer (1867-1937), Wyncote, Pa.; Arthur J. Sussel, Philadelphia, Pa.; purchased at Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, NY, October 24, 1958, by The Old Print Shop on behalf of Colonial Williamsburg.