Friedrich Krebs
Birth and Baptismal Certificate

Public Domain

Artist Friedrich Krebs (American, active 1790–1815)American, active 1790–1815

Printer J. Schneider and Company(active Reading, Pennsylvania, late 18th century)active Reading, Pennsylvania, late 18th century

CultureAmerican

Titles

Birth and Baptismal Certificate

Date1798

PlaceLower Saucon Township, Pennsylvania, United States

MediumOx gall ink, watercolor, and engraving on laid paper

DimensionsSheet: 12 7/8 × 15 3/4 in. (32.8 × 40 cm)

Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, gift of David B. Warren in memory of Florence Prickett Warren Hershey

Object numberB.97.13

Non exposé

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Department

Bayou Bend

Object Type

PRINTS

DescriptionElaborate birth and baptismal certificates were important markers of these milestones in Pennsylvania German communities. While earlier examples were drawn and written entirely by hand, by the late 1700s, some began to incorporate preprinted text. This example was made for a boy named Earl Gross, who was born on February 6, 1798, in Lower Saucon Township, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, in the far east-central portion of the state. Friedrich Krebs executed this certificate on a form that was printed for him by J. Schneider and Company of Reading, Pennsylvania, for the purpose. Krebs later added the necessary names, dates, and information, and added the hand-drawn embellishments.
Provenance[Andree Yule, Wilmington, Delaware]; purchased by Florence Warren (Hershey); given to David B. Warren, Houston, 1985; given to MFAH, 1997.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks

[no inscriptions]

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