Taufschein for Peter Roller

Date1804

Maker Peter Bernhart

OriginAmerica, Virginia, Rockingham County

MediumWatercolor and ink on paper

DimensionsOverall: 13 × 16in. (33 × 40.6cm)

Credit LineGift of an Anonymous Donor

Object number2020.305.1

DescriptionFraktur with inscription in center surrounded by red, blue and yellow birds and flowers.Label TextPeter Roller (11799-1846), the recipient of this birth and baptismal certificate, was the son of Peter S. Roller and his wife, Eva Sype, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Sometime prior to Peter's birth the Roller moved to Virginia and Peter was born in Rockingham County on March 31, 1799. Peter Roller married Elizabeth mary Miley in Rockingham County, Virginia on February 8, 1828 and by the time the 1860 census rolled around they had ten children and were living in Harrisonburg.

Peter Bernhart lived in Keezletown, near present day Harrisonburg, Virginia. in 1789, he advertised in the Virginia Gazette that he would ride post from Winchester to Staunton carrying English and German newspapers. He was active as a fraktur artist from 1794 to 1819. This work is generally acknowledged to be Berhart's supreme masterpiece, and one of the best preserved and most vibrant examples by this important Virginia fraktur artist.ProvenanceBefore 1974, descended through the Roller family of Rockingham County, Virginia folded in the original family bible; 1974, acquired by Robert Crawford Art and Antiques (Richmond, VA); Date unknown, sold to the collection of Mr. and Mrs. William E. Wiltshire III (Richmond, VA); Date unknown, acquired by Robert Crawford Art and Antiques (Richmond, VA); Date unknown, sold to the Collection of Dr. R. Lewis Wright (Richmond, VA); Date unknown, acquired by Robert Crawford Art and Antiques (Richmond, VA);2001; offered for sale at Sotheby's Auction House (New York, NY), ("The Robert E. Crawford Collection," October 13, 2001, lot 262). Date unknown, acquired by David A. Schorsch and Eileen M. Smiles American Antiques (Woodbury, CT); 2005, purchased by Colonial Williamsburg's vendor; 2020, donated to The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (Williamsburg, VA)