"Mishenichnas Adar Marbin BeSimchah" [when Adar arrives, we increase our joy], illustrated plaque for the month of Adar, produced by the artist Shabtai Dov son of Yaakov Asher Sack (with his signature in the bottom margins). [Apparently Lviv, today in Ukraine, early 20th century].
Ink and paint on paper.
Large, colorful plaque, hand-drawn and colored, composed symmetrically, including a bottle and two cups set upon a round table, below which is a pair of fish with the caption "Zodiac of Adar, Pisces". The top of the plaque has the caption Mishenichnas Adar Marbin BeSimchah ("when Adar arrives, we increase our joy") in large, stylized letters, surrounded by vegetal patterns including two hissing creatures, a pair of storks and two lamps.
The bottom margins and verso of the plaque bear the ink stamp of the Polish art historian and collector Maksymilian Goldstein of Lviv. In his book discussing Jewish folk art in Poland, which he co-authored with Dr. Karol Dresdner and was published in Lviv, 1935, Goldstein dedicates a large portion to the artist Shabtai Sack, displaying facsimiles of some of his artwork (including a similar Mishenichnas plaque) along with important biographical details. According to Goldstein, Shabtai Sack was born in Thessaloniki, ca. 1853, and lived in Lviv from a young age. Goldstein describes him as a skilled and versatile artist, who also worked with wood and stone carving, and decorated numerous synagogues in various Ukrainian cities.
39X56.5 cm. Overall good condition. Some stains, mainly visible from verso. Light signs of repair on verso.
Reference: Maksymiljan Goldstein and Karol Dresdner, Kultura i sztuka ludu żydowskiego na ziemiach polskich. Lviv: M. Goldstein, 1935, pp. 39, 60, 79-80, 166, 186-187.
