I've always admired early Pennsylvania German fraktur marriage certificates like this one, engraved then enhanced by hand with watercolor (and of course with the names and details of the marrying couple written in.) But it is the very joyful and especially colorful painting on this one, dated 1843, that made me jump on it--most of all the wonderful polka dots decorating the robe of our angel at left! (And within a day of finding this, I found a school girl watercolor of two birds on a branch clearly based on the birds printed here--likely a certificate like this one hung in the home of the child who did it.) To my eye a super lovely and cheering thing, which I'd like to think was testament to a great love!
Framed: 17 3/4" x 13 3/4". There is an old mended tear running down the center from top, terminating at the top section of the handwritten section, and a small loss to the upper right corner. Otherwise good, and color very rich. I placed it in this nice old gold painted frame, behind glass and backed with archival board and older framer's board behind that, which closed it up snugly.
You might also like
