Adopt an Artifact

You can Adopt an Artifact with Us!

The Heritage Center is launching its first Adopt-an-Artifact program. Under this program, we will feature an object, a fraktur, a work of art, a book, or a manuscript that is in dire need of conservation treatment. You can “adopt” one of the featured pieces with a donation to a restricted fund that will be used solely for the conservation of these artifacts. You can donate the whole amount or a portion, and you will be credited in the artifact’s catalog record and when the artifact is on exhibition.

This quarter we are highlighting an extraordinary writing model, or Vorschrift, that was given to us in 2019 by Schwenkfelder descendant Greg Kriebel. It was made by an unknown schoolmaster for Anna Maria Boehm in Philadelphia in 1773 and is truly a masterpiece of baroque decoration. Anna Maria (or as she was known to her family, Maria or Mary) Boehm was the fourth child of Philip and Anna Maria (Yost) Boehm Jr. Philip was a merchant and had property on 2nd Street in Philadelphia. Maria Boehm appears to have been born in 1765, but records are sketchy, so it is difficult to ascertain. 

Philip’s father was Johann Philip Boehm, the founder of the German Reformed Church in the United States. The family was firmly rooted in that church and was associated with the Old First Reformed Church in Philadelphia. That church had a school as early as 1753, and perhaps this Vorschrift was made at that school.

What makes this Vorschrift special and unusual is the inclusion of “PHILADELPHIA” at the bottom. Any fraktur made in Philadelphia is uncommon—at least in terms of survival. For this piece to proclaim its origins so loudly is quite amazing. 

We predict that conservation treatment and mounting will cost between $2500 and $3000. All our works on paper are treated by The Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts in Philadelphia. Though it is difficult to see in the photo here, the fraktur is in four pieces, so repair and stabilization is a priority.

This Vorschrift is 250 years old this year. What a fitting way to celebrate its birthday! Will you help us give it another 250 years?