|
Certificate of merit to Abby Ann King Turner
Daniel Jaudon (1767-1826)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1821
Ink and watercolor on probably French-made embossed paper, 7 ¾ x 9 ½ inches, with a period gilt frame
Inscribed in ink: “To Whom it may Concern: / These presents TESTIFY that Miss ABBY ANN K. TURNER, as an orderly / and approved pupil, has completed the course of Studies prescribed in this SEMINARY; / and, having, throughout a MINUTE EXAMINATION, given honourable proof / of her attainments in the several branches of SCIENCE to which her attention has / been directed, is now regularly dismissed, bearing the honours of the INSTITUTION / TOGETHER WITH THE BEST WISHES AND MOST AFFECTIONATE REGARD OF HER PRECEPTOR, / Given at Union Hall, / July the 27th 1821.} Daniel Jaudon”
This is a large and elegant certificate from the pen of an accomplished calligrapher. It demonstrates a variety of lettering styles executed in black ink on a sheet of probably French-made paper embossed with leafy borders, the four corners with spandrels depicting Putti possibly representing the seasons; each one having a different poetic inscription in French. In addition to being a masterful demonstration of penmanship, its primary decorative element is a watercolor drawing of an opened textbook at the top center executed in shades of gray, blue, and yellow, and bearing a list of school subjects: Orthography / Reading / Writing / Arithmetic / Grammar / Rhetoric / Composition / Geography / Astronomy / Chronology / Nat. Philos / History.
Daniel Jaudon was the son of Peter Jaudon (1735-1793) and Ann McClure (1728-1804). He was born on July 7, 1767 in Mount Pleasant, Bucks County, Pennsylvania and died in Philadelphia on July 23, 1826. He married Anna McNeil on Christmas day, December 25, 1793, and between 1795 and 1813 the couple produced nine children. Daniel Jaudon was a distinguished educator in Philadelphia for many decades. One of his earliest teaching assignments was at The University of Pennsylvania from 1791-1795. Today Daniel Jaudon is best known as an author of two important early textbooks on childhood education, A Short system of polite learning: being an epitome of the arts and sciences, for the use of schools (Litchfield: Thomas Collier, 1797), and with Thomas Watson and Stephen Addington, The English orthographical expositor: being a compendious selection of the most useful words in the English language (Philadelphia: D. Hogan, 1809).
Abby Ann King Turner was fourteen years old when she received this certificate. She was born on September 21, 1806 in Philadelphia. By 1831 she had married the Rev. Peter H. Van Pelt (1795-1873), a member of a prominent and well known Philadelphia family. An elegant portrait of a twenty six year old Abby Ann King Turner Van Pelt was painted by Thomas Sully (1783-1872) in 1832 (it is currently being offered for sale by the Schwarz Gallery in Philadelphia). She died in Philadelphia on June 5, 1885.
|
