I'm copying and pasting the reply I received from Lisa Minardi, curator and fraktur expert at the Winterthur
Museum regarding symbolism in fraktur. If you wish to discuss this, please refrain from discussions of
religion. Thanks
"Dear Mr. Watt,
Brock Jobe forwarded your inquiry on to me as one of my research specialties is fraktur. From the image of the Barbara Oberholtzer fraktur that you shared, I gather that you have discovered the online fraktur database of the Free Library collection, which was a project I worked on from 2007-2009. In general, my opinion regarding the symbolic meaning of specific motifs on fraktur (and other Pennsylvania German art forms, such as painted chests) is that the designs are by and large simply decorative and did not have a specific symbolism for their maker or owner. There are no documented references by either makers or owners to suggest otherwise, and without that documentation it is extraordinarily difficult to attempt to interpret whether or not a certain flower had a certain meaning at a particular time, etc. The late Pastor Frederick S. Weiser, a renowned fraktur scholar and one of my mentors, wrote in the introduction to the catalogue of the Free Library collection that “with some exceptions, the motifs of Fraktur are simply embellishment and have no esoteric meaning or function beyond the beautification of the piece” (p. xxvii). After looking at thousands of fraktur, I am inclined to agree. It is very rare that the maker identifies the motifs with accompanying text and often the text and imagery appear to be largely unrelated. I'm sorry if this is not the answer you were looking for but it is my general opinion on the subject. Of course, there are exceptions in which the imagery is clearly derived from sources such as the British coat of arms, Great Seal of the U.S., or of biblical origins. But even then, it is difficult to know what the meaning was to the maker and owner. For example, I find that images using the British coat of arms appear to be most popular during the 1780s and 1790s, rather than before the American Revolution, in Pennsylvania German art. But I doubt this is a celebration of pro-British sentiment; rather, the artists are adapting the motifs to suit their needs and simply using available print sources for inspiration.
In regards to the specific motif about which you inquired, attached is an image of a painted walnut box with a similar motif; this object is in Winterthur's collection and has a history of ownership in a Chester County Quaker family. I share this as an indication that this particular design does not appear to be limited to Germanic decorative arts."
