Francis Charles Portzline

Francis Charles Portzline (1771 - 1857) was an American fraktur artist of German birth.

A native of Solingen,[1] Portzline migrated to the United States in 1777,[2] and settled in Franklin Township, York County, Pennsylvania, around 1800. There he operated a general store; its account book still exists in the hands of his descendants. He married Sabina Heiges, a member of a local family, and is believed to have been a schoolteacher at the Franklin Church. Achieving American citizenship in 1804, in 1812 he sold his York County property and moved to Perry County; some years later he moved again, to Snyder County, which would be his home until his death.[1] His property was located along the Susquehanna River, in Perry Township,[3] at the time part of Union County.[2] While living there he continued to farm and teach.[1] The Portzline family cemetery, containing the artist's grave, still exists in Perry Township.[3]

As an artist Portzline is remembered today for a handful of baptismal records for children in the neighborhood, distinguished by their border designs of brightly-colored animals. His work incorporates both German and English. Several pieces, primarily certificates for his own children, are known to survive.[1] Six of his pieces are held by the Philadelphia Museum of Art;[4] other collections holding examples of his work include those of the Winterthur Museum, which owns three works;[5] the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum, which owns two;[6] and the Free Library of Philadelphia, which owns one,[6] as does the Hood Museum of Art at Dartmouth College.[7] He was among the folk artists featured in an exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art in 1932 and 1933.[8]