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.

Portrait of R. Shmuel Oppenheimer. Lithograph by Joseph Kriehuber. Printed by Johannes Höfelich, [Vienna], 1846.

Under the portrait are a facsimile of his signature and a German text with a short biography.

R. Shmuel (Samuel) Oppenheimer (1630-1703) was a Jewish banker, philanthropist and court diplomat, close to Emperor Leopold I of the Holy Roman Empire. He was the Emperor's finance minister and assisted him in his war against the Ottoman Empire during the Great Turkish War (1683-1699). After the Jews were expelled from Vienna in 1670, Oppenheimer was the first Jew allowed to settle in the city with his "Gesinde", a small community composed of a number of Jewish families. He took advantage of his ties with the Emperor's court to benefit his Jewish brethren.

45X28 cm. Fair condition. Many stains. Tears in several places, repaired. Mounted on cardboard and matted.

Provenance: Kedem, Auction 63, 13 November 2018, Lot 160.

Das israelitische Bethhaus in Pesth [The Jewish Synagogue in Pest]. [Vienna or Budapest, ca. mid-19th century].

Ink and watercolor on paper, signed and captioned.

Fine, richly-detailed illustration of the Neolog synagogue in Budapest. The illustration, evidently based on an engraving by Karl Schumann (published by L. Förster, Vienna, ca. 1857), with minor differences.

At bottom-left of leaf, name of architect, Ludwig Förster, who planned the synagogue and published the original engraving; to the right, "Gall. S.", perhaps the name of the illustrator of the present work.

The Neolog synagogue on Dohány Street (Dohány utcai Zsinagóga/Nagy Zsinagóga) was built in 1854-1859 and dedicated on 7th Elul (Septeber 6), 1859. Built in the Neo-Moorish style planned by Austrian architect Ludwig Förster (1797-1863). Its unique structure and central location granted it a central place in Pest community life.

35X41.5 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains and creases. Tears, professionally restored, slightly affecting illustration. Minor marginal tears. Margins trimmed (?); trimmed signature on bottom-left margins.