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TC82-1211, Fraktur
Birth and Baptismal Certificiate for Joseph Kauffman (b. 1804)
TC82-1211, Fraktur

Birth and Baptismal Certificiate for Joseph Kauffman (b. 1804)

Dateca. 1815
Attributed to Henry Heltzel (1788 - 1867)
OriginAmerica, Virginia, Shenandoah County
MediumWatercolor and ink on laid paper
DimensionsPrimary Support: 8 3/16 x 10in. (20.8 x 25.4cm) and Framed: 12 1/2 x 14 7/16in. (31.8 x 36.7cm)
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number1961.305.4
DescriptionHeavy drapery (once colored red or pink but now quite faded) is drawn up at center top and at each upper corner. Gold-colored tassels hang from the side drapes, and similar (but larger) tassels hang from cords at top center. Simulated "fringing" appears along the edge of the drapery. An angel's head and wings are shown at top center, beneath the raised drape. Below the angel's head are three small blooms consisting of four round petals alternating with four pointed petals (or other plant parts); a similar fourth bloom is above the angel's head. Beneath the three small blooms, a large, compass-drawn heart encloses text in English. The heart is defined by a thick blue-colored line bordered on each side by red hatched half-circles. Below the heart, two large flowering stems or vines extend to either side. In each lower corner there is a small bloom similar to the four shown above the heart (but the two at the bottom both have five, not four, round petals alternating with five, not four, pointed ones). The whole composition is marked off by straight lines forming a simulated "frame" that is filled in with a gold color, with red in its "corner blocks".
Label TextMore than half Henry Heltzel's works were created for families attending Zion Lutheran and Reformed Church in Stoney Creek, Shenandoah County, Virginia, hence his early nickname of "the Stoney Creek Artist."

The "heavenly curtain" framing the upper portion of this fraktur, and the two large flowers on either side at the bottom, are but two of the distinctive motifs used by the artist. Most of his work also includes the five-petaled rose seen in the lower corners (although they appear as four-petaled in some works). These flowers and the artist's tulips are frequently colored by hatched lines. The winged angel at the top between the tassels invariably appears in this position on pieces with the curtain motif. A striking and often overlooked feature of the artist's work is the use of subdued pastel colors for the background, curtains, and some of the flowers. Violets and pinks are common colors in his development of such areas.

Some of Heltzel's works are inscribed in German, some (as here) in English. He also was adept at both common cursive and elaborate Gothic styles of lettering. In formats of this type, regardless of language, he consistently placed the child's name in large letters at the head of the text.
InscribedThe inscription on the front reads: "JOSEPH KAUFFMAN/Was born in Virginia Shenandoah County/January the 30th anno Domini 1804 his pa=/rents are Adolph Kauffman and his-/ beloved wife Barbara his sponcers/are his parents he was/Babtized by the Rev/Bernhart/Willy."



MarkingsA watermark in the primary support reads: "J V R" (signifying John Van Reed, Jr., a papermaker from at least 1812 until his death in 1823, per Thomas L. Gravell and George Miller, A CATALOGUE OF AMERICAN WATERMARKS, 1690-1835 [NY, 1979], p. 200).

ProvenanceRobert Carlen, Philadelphia, Pa.