Taufwunsch for Maria Gertraud, Washington-Sussel Artist probably Berks County, Pennsylvania, circa 1776

Watercolor and ink on paper

Inscribed (translated from German) recto, ink: Christian Baptismal Wish / You have been baptized, oh dear child, into / Christ's death who has purchased you from / hell with his blood. As a reminder of / this and a constant memorial, I want / to give you this. Grow up to the glory of / God and the joy of your parents, to / the benefit of your neighbor and to your own / blessedness./ Maria Gertraud was born 24 September 1776 /in the sign of aquarius in Becksten [Pabyton] County [Township], Lancaster/ [now in Dauphin] County in Pennsylvania in / America. May God grant his blessing./ Baptismal sponsor Ludwig Hemperling / Baptismal sponsor Maria Hemperling

Descended in family to Carrie Railing, Ephrata, Pennsylvania
Historical Society of Cocalico Valley, Ephrata, Pennsylvania
T. Glenn Horst Auctioneer Galleries, Ephrata, Pennsylvania, "The Historical Society of Cocalico Valley"  May 1980, lot 337
David and Susan Cunningham, Denver, Pennsylvania, 1980

Frederick S. Weiser. Fraktur: Pennsylvania German Folk Art, Ephrata, PA: Science Press, 1973, p 97
American Radiance: The Ralph Esmerian Gift to the American Folk Art Museum, p. 235, fig. 206

Two long vertical fold-marks; some minor horizontal creases; color is brilliant.
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The unidentified artist known only as "Sussel-Washington" gained his nickname from a drawing inscribed "exselence Georg General Waschingd" and "Ledy Waschingdon," from the collection of Arthur J. Sussel, which brought a large sum at auction in 1958. His production is among the most studied and sought of Pennsylvania German fraktur.1 The artist's work continued until at least 1788 and was made for children born in what are today Berks, Lebanon, Dauphin, Lancaster, York, and Schuylkill Counties. He made drawings of the Washingtons, the "Queen of Sudbury," children, and animals. He had an impact on the work of Conrad Gilbert, whom he probably knew as a colleague in Berks and Schuylkill Counties; several baptisms for which he made records are recorded at the Altalaha Lutheran Church, one of them in Gilbert's hand. The wording format he followed is European, and as a result, whereas sponsors are named, parents are not. Only sometimes is the officiating clergyman designated, but more often the place is noted. The human figures are clearly intended to represent the sponsors as the placing of their names suggests. The Taufwunsch, or Christian baptismal wish, is for a child named Maria Gertraud, who was born September 24, 1776. Her surname is not disclosed; her sponsors were Ludwig and Maria Hemperling. Efforts to find her in the church records in or near "Becksten County" [Pabyton Township] in Dauphin County have been unrewarded. The source for the iconography is unknown; the "bee-bonnet" headwear on the woman may be European. The same head covering, but with more elaborate cuffs, is present in Laedy Waschington, which surfaced in Ohio. Essentially the same woman, astride a horse going in the opposite direction, is inscribed "Malley Quen of Sedburg."2 -F.S.W.