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Pair of fraktur

Offered by: Philip Bradley Antiques

Description
This pair of fraktur drawings was made for brothers Johannes and Michael Sill in 1786. Both drawings feature a portrait of a woman at the top within a circular frame and a German inscription at the bottom within a heart-shape frame. Johannes Sill’s fraktur is inscribed: “Ist deine Seel betrübt, / So schau den Himmel an, / Gott ist der helfen will, / Und der auch helfen kan” (translation: Is your soul troubled? Then look to heaven. God wants to and also will help you.”) Michael Sill’s fraktur is inscribed: “Bist du gesund von Leib, / Und fröhlich un gemühte, / So such der Seelen Heyl, / Und preise Got[t]es güthe” (translation: if you are healthy in body and joyful in spirit, then seek your soul’s salvation, and praise God’s goodness.”)

These two drawings were attributed by Pastor Frederick S. Weiser to the Provinz Marialand Artist, who worked in Washington County, Maryland, in the late 1700s. This artist’s work is typically printed with wood block images and handwritten inscriptions. These two pieces may be the only known all-manuscript examples.

See Weiser, The Gift is Small, the Love is Great (York, PA: 1994), pp. 98-9. Klaus Stopp, The Printed Birth and Baptismal Certificates of the German Americans, vol. 1 (East Berlin, PA: 1997), pp. 126-9.

The Sill/Sell family settled in the Littlestown area of what is now Adams County, Pennsylvania, near the Maryland border. See Kenneth D. Sell, The Sell Families of Adams and York Counties, Pennsylvania and Carroll County, Maryland, 1685-1995, vol. 1 (Penobscott Press, 1998).

Ex-collection Pastor Frederick S. Weiser; MESDA

More Information

Origin:	United States, Pennsylvania
Period:	18th Century
Materials:	Watercolor and ink on laid paper
Condition:	Good.
Creation Date:	1786
Styles / Movements:	Other
Incollect Reference #:	566301