Mezuzah case by Ludwig Yehuda Wolpert (1900-1981). [New York, ca. 1960s]. Signed on reverse: "Wolpert".

Sterling silver, cut and pierced; ink on parchment.

Designed as a pair of Ark doors. Rectangular base with two holes for affixing to a doorpost; removable concave front inscribed in sewn Hebrew letters, in Wolpert’s distinctive style: "Barukh atah bevo'akha uvarukh atah betsetekha".

Cylindrical shaft in center for housing the parchment scroll, with small window revealing the word "Shaddai". The mezuzah parchment is written in Ashkenazi scribal hand (ca. mid-20th century).

Ludwig Yehuda Wolpert (1900-1981), Israeli-American designer and silversmith, a pioneer of the modernist style in Jewish ceremonial art. Born near Heidelberg to an Orthodox family of Eastern European origin, he studied sculpture and metalwork at the Frankfurt School of Arts, influenced by Bauhaus principles and the modernist designs of his teacher Christian Dell.

In 1933, following the Nazi rise to power, he emigrated to Palestine. In 1935, he joined the faculty of the New Bezalel School of Arts and Crafts in Jerusalem, where he co-directed the metalwork department with David Heinz Gumbel.

Wolpert’s work is distinguished by its synthesis of modernist silversmithing with Hebrew typography and biblical texts. In 1956, he moved to the U.S., where he headed the Tobe Pascher Workshop for Modern Jewish Art at the Jewish Museum, New York.

For comparison, see: Sharon Weiser-Ferguson (curator), Forging Ahead: Wolpert and Gumbel, Israeli Silversmiths for the Modern Age, Israel Museum, 2012, p. 80 and p. 65 (Torah Ark doors) [Hebrew edition].

Approx. 13X9X1.5 cm. Good condition. Minor staining and blemishes. Suspension holes in the back.

Two gold amulets:

1. Amulet-Pendant. [Iraq, early decades of the 20th century].

Ink and paint on parchment; glass; gold; turquoise stones.

Round gold amulet, containing a round parchment slip inscribed with initial letters of the Ana Bekoach piyyut and various names for protection, set beneath glass. Gold frame is set with turquoise stones. A pin affixed to the reverse for attaching to clothing.

Diameter: 3.5 cm. One turquoise stone lacking.

2. Amulet. [Iraq or Kurdistan, ca. mid-20th century].

Gold, engraved.

Round gold amulet, engraved with initial letters of the Ana Bekoach piyyut, names of angels, a Star of David enclosing the word “Zion”, and the owner's name: "Rachima bat Nazdari".

Diameter: 5.2 cm. Suspension loop.

Illuminated “Mizrach” plaque. [Southern Germany, 18th century].

Ink and paint on paper.

“Mizrach” plaque, inscribed and illuminated, on a rectangular sheet of paper. Divided into nine frames: a middle frame, containing the Hebrew word “Mizrach” [“East”], encircled by eight frames bearing folk art illustrations, labeled in Hebrew, depicting Jewish holidays and customs, and featuring figures in contemporary costume (clockwise: “Sukkot” [showing a sukkah and the taking of the “lulav”]; “… Yom Kippur” [lashes – a Jew ‘flogging’ a fellow Jew lying prostrate on the ground]; “Pesach” [a family of three seated at the seder table]; “Shavu’ot” [a Jewish man raising an open Torah scroll in the synagogue]; “Rosh HaShanah” [two Jewish men, dressed in white, in the synagogue, with one blowing the shofar and the other reading from a book, presumably a “machzor”]; “… Yom Kippur” [the “kapparot” ritual, involving a slaughtered rooster]; “Hanukkah” [a Jewish man lighting one of the candles in a large, erect Hanukkah lamp in the synagogue]; “Purim” [a man reading the Esther scroll at the table in the synagogue, while a child stands under the table (waving a Purim gregger or rattler?)]).

A similar plaque, formerly part of the collection of Heinrich Feuchtwanger (acquired in Ansbach, Germany) is kept today in the collection of the Israel Museum, Jerusalem (Item No. HF107, 169/25); see: Isaiah Shachar, “Jewish Tradition in Art: The Feuchtwanger Collection of Judaica”, exhibition catalogue, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, 1981, Item No. 107 (also documented by Theodor Harburger [P160-1002]).

Height: 20.5 cm. Width: 29 cm. Fair-good condition. Creases, stains (mostly to edges), fold lines and minor tears, with slight damage to illustrations, professionally mended. Minor abrasions and faded color. Matted; mounted on acid-free paper.

Micrography designed in the shape of the Tablets of the Law. With no apparent indication of author, location or date. [Central or Western Europe, perhaps Holland, late 18th or early 19th century].

Ink and paint on parchment.

Rectangular parchment sheet with high-quality micrography designed in the shape of the Tablets of the Law – with the Ten Commandments in the center – surrounded by vegetal and geometrical decorations topped by a crown. The micrographic work includes verses from the Book of Shemot about the giving of the Torah as well as the Books of Shir HaShirim and Ruth. The text is written in brown ink. The Tablets of the Law are colored blue, while the Ten Commandments are written in gold. Another blue decoration appears in the center of the crown in the upper margins. A decoration in the shape of a winged angel is placed between the two tablets.

This work may have been fashioned as a wedding gift; its dimensions seem to be suited for hanging on a wall.

23X26.5 cm. Fair-good condition. Stains. Minor holes and tears to corners and margins. Creases. Peeling in blue color (the blue circle at top is mostly lacking), and fading of gold text. Ink stamp and pen inscription on verso.