Henry Young was a minister and schoolmaster and an extremely prolific creator of fraktur of many kinds over a forty year period. He is one of the few fraktur artists to practice portraiture. By far the greatest number of his works feature a conventionalized format of a man and woman in full-length profile opposite a candle stand or small center table, usually accompanied by a vase, bouquet of flowers or a wineglass.

The detailed decorative treatment of the costumes seen in this example is typical of his style. Although somewhat flat and linear in handling, the composition has a charming appeal and was repeated often with slight variations according to the type of presentation fraktur.

Young was born in Saxony and immigrated to Pennsylvania in 1817, settling in Union County before moving to Centre County c. 1843.