Buchinger, Matthias | A Buchinger family tree for a couple who took Genesis 1:22 to heart

Buchinger, Matthias

Fine autograph calligraphic family tree of Sir Edward & Dame Mary Filmer signed ("Mathew Buchinger")

Manuscript on paper (198 x 142 mm), Kent, 7 March 1732/3; mounted on early mat board, now browned, but with the manuscript largely unaffected, nine small and unobtrusive wormholes.

Buchinger had a number of dealings with the Filmer family of East Sutton, Kent. He has captioned their family tree, which incorporates the Filmer arms, within the ruled border: "Sr. Edward Filmer Bart of East-Sutton Kent Married Feb: 24th 1706/7 Dame Mary Filmer, Daughter of John Wallis Esqr. of Soundess Oxfordshire." The tree bears twenty "fruits," each labelled with the name and birthdate of one of the Filmers's children, ranging from Mary, born July 21, 1708, to Amy, born November 13, 1731. (Buchinger included two unaccomplished fruits, just in case.) Hanging from a loop on a lower limb is a trompe l'oeil locket with the Filmer heraldic crest, a falcon rising from the ruin of a castle, with motto Nescia Fallere Vita.

The fine design is signed, dated, and localized by Buchinger in his usual formula below the ruled border: "Kent, March the 7, 1732/3. This Coat of Arms was Drawn & Written by Mathew Buchinger born Without Hands or Feet, in Germany June the 3d. 1674."

REFERENCE:

Exemplars, p. 72; MB, fig. 46