Vorschrift

Date1818

Attributed to Hennrich Engelhard (active 1818-ca. 1855)

OriginAmerica, Pennsylvania, Northumberland County

MediumInk and watercolor on laid paper

DimensionsPrimary Support: 7 5/8 x 12 3/8in. (19.4 x 31.4cm) and Framed: 10 3/4 x 15 1/2in.

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number2002.305.1

DescriptionA Vorschrift, or writing exercise, in German, the initial line executed in ornate, Fraktur-style lettering in colors of blue, red, and yellow and terminating in a picture of a red steepled building. The second line is written in black ink in Fraktur-style lettering; the remaining lines, excepting the last, are written in script. The last line is written in Fraktur-style lettering in colors of blue, red, and yellow.

The 1 1/4-inch molded, red-painted frame is a modern addition.
Label TextHennrich Engelhard taught school in southern Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, probably in the Mahantango Valley where this piece was found. He later moved to Berks County, Pennsylvania, where he likely died in the 1850s.
Like the majority of such forms, this Vorschrift, or writing exercise, provided a pious statement or verse that was intended to be copied by a student, thereby teaching morality as well as writing. The name at the bottom, Heinnrich (Henry) Frantz, is that of Engelhard's pupil.

InscribedIn the file, see the translation of the inscription on this piece rendered by Pastor Frederick S. Weiser, April 21, 2007. [Note: The transcription given here needs to be rechecked against the original by a German scholar]: "Komm sterblicher/betrachte mich, du lebst, ich lebt auf Erden,/was du getzt bist, ans war ruch ich, was ich bin wirst/du warden, du must hernach ich bin [last line repeated four times in another hand]/Heinnrich Frantz den 31ten Merz 1818."

Weiser's translation is as follows: "Come, dying one,/consider me. You live, so once was I. What I am you will become/you must hereafter I am [last line repeated four times in another hand]/Heinnrich Frantz, 31 March 1818".

Weiser notes that the "other hand" was undoubtedly that of the child, Henry Frantz, for whom the Vorschrift was made; Frantz would have copied Engelhard's writing.
ProvenanceOwnership prior to CWF's source, David Wheatcroft, is undocumented.