Two Birds
19th century
Water-based paint, gum glaze, and pen and iron gall ink on wove paper
15.9 × 10.8 cm (6.3 × 4.3 in)
SEE IT IN PERSON
● On view now — Collection Gallery, Room 17, South Wall
Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia · verified July 2026
Discussion
FROM THE BARNES FOUNDATION’S CATALOG
The two stylized birds, facing in opposite directions, are connected by the curving branch on which they both perch. This motif often appears on Pennsylvania German birth and baptismal certificates known as Taufscheine. A type of fraktur, a style of manuscript art whose name derives from its fractured lettering, Taufscheine combined information about a child's birth and the baptism into one document and often included biographical details about the child and their parents.
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