Vorschrift

Date1787

Artist/Maker Jacob Strickler (1770-1842)

MediumInk, watercolor and resin on laid paper

DimensionsPrimary Support; irreg.: 7 3/4 x 12 3/8in. (19.7 x 31.4cm) and Framed: 11 1/8 x 15 3/4in. (28.3 x 40cm)

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1974.305.10

DescriptionA writing exercise beginning with a psalm quotation, incorporating several sets of numbers and alphabets, and with a final line providing the artist's name, place, and date of execution. The language is German except that the last line is in English. The lettering and numbers are all written in the lower three-quarters and in the righthand five-sixths of the sheet. The first line is in German Gothic-style lettering and is much larger than the remaining text. The initial letter ("I") is greatly elaborated and decorated, with spirals tapering from its lower edge to the bottom of the sheet. Flowers will the lefthand sixth of the sheet, with larger blooms more widely spaced across the top.
The 2-inch molded wood frame, painted brown, is a period replacement.Label TextStrickler was born to German-speaking parents living in Shenandoah (now Page) County, Virginia, their ancestors having emigrated from Switzerland in the early eighteenth century. Several talented fraktur artists worked in Virginia; Strickler arguably qualifies as the most imaginative of them.
This "Vorschrift," or "writing exercise," is the earliest example of Strickler's work recorded to date. Preceding the alphabets and numerals that are typical of "Vorschriften" is the German text of Psalm 37:25-27, which begins; "I was once young and have grown old . . . ." The selection of these verses seems especially ironic since Strickler was only sixteen years old at the time he made the "Vorschrift." The ease and sureness of the writing indicate that he had acquired considerable expertise in drawing and penmanship by 1787.
It is not known whether the artist based this elaborate exercise on an existing pattern, or whether it simply reflects his own inventiveness. In either case, the wealth of embellishment here, particularly in the initial letter of the Psalm verse and throughout the uppercase alphabet at bottom, forecasts his later work---for example, his ornate 1794 writing exercise now owned by the Henry Francis DuPont Winterthur Museum.Inscription(s)In German, the ink inscription reads: "Ich bin jung gewesen und alt/Worden, und hab noch nie gesehen den gerechten Verlassen/oder seinen samen nach brodt gehen. Er ist allezeit bermhertzig und leihet/gern und sein same wird gesegnet seyn. Lass vom bosen und Thue guts, und bleibe jmmerdar. Psalm 37, Vers 25, 26, 27 [numerals, several alphabets]/Jacob Strickler wohnhaft in Schanendor Caunty Virginien Mertz den 17ten 1787."
The English translation reads: "I have been young, and now am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken of his children begging bread. He is ever giving liberally and lending, and his children become a blessing. Depart from evil, and do good; so shall you abide for ever. Psalm 37:25-27 [numerals, several alphabets] Jacob Strickler residing in Shenandoah County, Virginia, March 17, 1787."Mark(s)Paper conservator E. C. Hollyday an elaborate watermark including a crown in the primary support in her report of Oct. 1977; she included a sketch of it in her report. Thomas L. Gravell commented, in his letter of 11/20/1977, that the watermark "looks Italian" but also expressed some reservations about this opinion. See also "Inscriptions."ProvenanceThis piece was acquired, along with 11 others (see "Related Works") from Jesse Modisett, Augustus M. Modisett, Harold M. Modisett, and Mrs. Lawrence H. Modisett. Jesse Modisett's letter to Don Walters dated December 19, 1974, identifies these three relations as his brothers and sister-in-law. Ownership prior to the Modisetts' has not been recorded.