Fraktur birth certificate for Lydia Glasz / Glass, daughter of Leonard Glass and wife Christina, nee German. Hand drawn and colored on paper. Unusual confronting women with yellow dresses and red parasols flank central textblock within border. Tree of life above textblock; undulating plant w/ flowers sit on shelf at sides. Triple-line outside border.
German text translates to "Lydia Glasz daughter of Leonard Glasz and his wife Christina a born German. Was born 25th day of Jan. in the year of our Lord 1811.
Some buckling of paper overall. Some bleeding of ink, causing brown marks around letters; also in entire upper left corner. Small 1.4" brown streak below the word "Christina" in center panel.
Condition report of 1986 by the Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts in Phila. in file. No documented treatment. Matted and framed in 1996 by conservator Brian Howard.
Object ID
P.77.12
Notes
Similar to designs of Plate #61 in Weiser & Heaney, Penna. German Fraktur of The Free Library of Phila., v.1.
Research: Ancestry.com gives the marriage of fraktur recipient Lydia Glass to John Kempfer on 20 Nov. 1828 in Ephrata at the Bethany United Church of Christ. Husband John was born 19 Feb. 1809, died 4 April 1865. Lydia died 24 June 1853. Their daughter Elizabeth Kempfer (1836-1909) married David Rudy Buch (1834-1925) and lived in Lititz.
Ancestry also gives the 1810 Census in Earl, Lancaster Co. that lists Leonard Glase with 4 household members under 16 yrs., 1 at 16-25 yrs., and 2 over 25 yrs. Total of seven in home. Lydia was born the following year in 1811.
Place of Origin
Lancaster County
Credit
Gift of the James Hale Steinman Foundation, Heritage Center Collection
Oil Painting on paper of General John Steele. Gen. Steele is seated with his right arm on the arm of a chair, left hand on his right wrist. He's attired in a black coat high with high back collar. A high white collar around his neck has a bow tied in the front with a ruffled front.
Porcelain china compote with hand-painted landscape scenary on outer body of the bowl. Acquired by James Buchanan while serving as Secretary of State from then outgoing French Ambassador, Louis Adolphe Aimé Fourier, comte de Bacourt.
Nast or Darte Freres factory. Jean-Pierre Feuillet, designer.
Provenance
French Ambassador, Louis Adolphe Aimé Fourier, comte de Bacourt
Mark applied over glaze, therefore some of the ojects no longer have the designer's signature
Height (cm)
13.97
Height (ft)
0.4583333333
Height (in)
5.5
Diameter (cm)
25.4
Diameter (ft)
0.8333333333
Diameter (in)
10
Condition
Fair
Condition Date
2023-03-31
Condition Notes
Some thinning of decorative paints, chipping, broken.
Object ID
W.1935.010.001
Notes
In 1995 the JBF staff assigned the Object ID W.95.69.2 to this Compote as a FIC probably because original paper records were not found.
In March 2023 the paper file has been found that identifies Lois Cassatt Thayer as the donor in 1935. Mrs. Thayer was the daughter to Alexander Cassatt and his wife, Maria Lois Buchanan Cassatt. Maria Lois Buchanan was the daughter to Rev. Dr. Edward Y. Buchanan, the youngest sibling to President James Buchanan.
This frog doorstop serves as an iconic symbol of James Buchanan's attachment to his favorite spring at his Wheatland farm, and was donated because it was an appropriate piece.
Fraktur is a Vorschrift made for Eva Kauffman & attributed to schoolmaster Christian Alsdorff. Horizontal design is hand drawn, lettered and colored on wove paper. Alsdorff uses black iron gall ink with red and black watercolors. Very busy design has lettering surrounded by multiple flowers and leaves.
First 3 lines of text are oversize, esp. the first. Appears to be "Ihr Kinder Send / Bedenck Deinen Schopfer in deiner Ill / Gehorsam Luren Eltern Dann das ist hillis Ehre Vatter." Nine lines of German script follow, and finally a last line of numbers. An area in the bottom right corner is boxed off by a red line border. Several lines written there are "Diese Vorschrifft Gehoret / Eva Kauffman in / ??????? Schullerin 2 Merz 1793."
This design is similar to that of the Vorschift belonging to Clarke Hess pictured in Papers for Birth Dayes, p. 51.
Formerly known as the "Earl Township Artist", Alsdorff was a schoolmaster at the Hempfield School and the Earl School in Lancaster County. Kauffman families did live in the area between Marietta Pike and Rt. 283. The 1869 Directory of Lancaster Co. has 18 Kauffmans listed in East Hempfield Twp and 15 in West Hempfield Twp. None were listed in the Earl townships. On the same day (March 2nd) Eva Kauffman received hers, Alsdorff presented a similar Vorschrift to Jacob Brubacher, noting he was a student at the Hempfield School. Eva most certainly was too.
Mounted in a dark wood frame with beveled face, white window mat. Significant pieces of the fraktur are hidden behind the matboard.
Hempfield School (in area of the Hempfield Townships), Lancaster County
Christian Alsdorf (c. 1760-1838, active c.1789-1821), attributed by Weiser.
Breaking and broken at fold lines; the vertical center line appears to be completely separated. It has two 1.5" long pieces of cellophane tape at top and bottom. Large ragged hole centered on fold line. Lots of brown stains cover much of surface. Iron gall ink has bled outward from motifs have strong concentrations of the ink. Watercolors are alligatored and individual pieces are cupping and lifting. In need of conservation.
Object ID
2002.160
Notes
Pastor Fred Weiser inventoried the fraktur collection in 1988; see forms in file. Weiser refers to the article on Alsdorff by David Johnson in Der Reggeboge (copy in object file).
See pages 51-53 in Russ and Corinne Earnest's "Papers for Birth Dayes" for article on Christian Alsdorff. He was prolific in creating his fraktur; over 50 are known.
