Auction 94 Part 1 Important Items from the Gross Family Collection

Oct 31, 2023

Prices Realized

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Lot 88 Decorated Porcelain Plate, Product of Dagoty et Honoré – “Jewess from Turkey” – Paris, Early 19th Century

"Juive de Turquie", Plate bearing the image of a Jewish woman from somewhere in the Ottoman Turkish Empire. Paris,

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Decorated Porcelain Plate, Product of Dagoty et Honoré – “Jewess from Turkey” – Paris, Early 19th Century

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Auction 94 Part 1 Important Items from the Gross Family Collection Oct 31, 2023

Opening: $4,000

Estimate: $6,000 - $8,000

Sold for: $5,000

Including buyer's premium

"Juive de Turquie", Plate bearing the image of a Jewish woman from somewhere in the Ottoman Turkish Empire. Paris, [ca. 1816-20].
Hard-paste porcelain, painted, gilded, and glazed; marked on verso with the letter "M" and with a maker’s mark (somewhat faded) that reads "M.ture de M.de / Duchesse d'Angouleme / Dagoty Honore / a Paris".
At the center of the plate, over a white background, is an illustration of a mother and daughter, walking in an open field and wearing the costume typical of Jewish women of the Ottoman Empire in the early 19th century. Underneath the illustration is an inscription in gilt lettering: "Juive de Turquie" ("Jewess from Turkey"). The rim is greenish-colored with a recurrent vegetal pattern in gilt. A gilt band and pattern also adorn the inner rim.
The porcelain tableware produced in Paris’s Dagoty et Honoré workshop was renowned for its exquisitely high quality, for its elegant decorative patterns, and for its bold colors. The artwork, illustrations, and imagery covered a broad range of genres, subjects and themes, and included landscapes, plants, animals, literary scenes, the Franco-Prussian War (1812), scenes inspired by Chinese and Far Eastern literature ("Chinoiserie"), and more.
In all likelihood, the present plate was created as part of a 12-piece set specifically dedicated by the workshop to figures representing various nations from around the world. Nevertheless, to the best of our knowledge, this particular plate and just one additional plate of its kind (see previous item) are the only Dagoty et Honoré plates featuring Jewish figures or subject matter.
The Dagoty et Honoré workshop was founded in Paris by Pierre-Louis Dagoty (1771-1840) in 1800. Thereafter, in 1804, it gained the sponsorship of Empress Joséphine de Beauharnais, whereupon it began supplying its merchandise to the Palace of Versailles. Following the defeat of Napoleon in 1815, the workshop began operating under the auspices of the French princess, Marie-Thérèse Charlotte, Duchesse d'Angouleme, and between the years 1816 and 1820, it worked in collaboration with Edouard Honoré. The mark which appears on the back of the present plate can be dated to those years, 1816-20, and it thus corresponds to this period of collaboration.
For comparison, see: Christie’s, New York, May 18, 2005, "Important European Furniture, Works of Art and Carpets", lot no. 97.

Diameter: 23 cm. Good condition. Minor blemishes. Remnants of glue on verso.

Provenance: The Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv, 022.006.009.
This plate is documented on the Center for Jewish Art (CJA) website, item no. 41240.

Lot 89 Set of Slaughterer’s Knives in Unique, Decorated Wooden Boxes – Memel, Lithuania, Early 20th Century

Four slaughterer’s knives, products of H. Pape Nachfl. [Nachfolger]. Memel, East Prussia, today Klaipėda, Lithuania, [early 2

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Set of Slaughterer’s Knives in Unique, Decorated Wooden Boxes – Memel, Lithuania, Early 20th Century

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Auction 94 Part 1 Important Items from the Gross Family Collection Oct 31, 2023

Opening: $5,000

Estimate: $8,000 - $10,000

Sold for: $15,000

Including buyer's premium

Four slaughterer’s knives, products of H. Pape Nachfl. [Nachfolger]. Memel, East Prussia, today Klaipėda, Lithuania, [early 20th century]. Housed in unique, matching, decorated wooden boxes, probably the handiwork of a Lithuanian-Jewish carpenter in the early 20th century (or in the early decades of that century).
Steel and bone; wood, carved and etched.
Set comprising four slaughterer’s knives – two for slaughtering fowl, one for slaughtering small livestock (incl. sheep, goats, and small cattle), and one for slaughtering larger livestock (larger cattle). All four are the products of H. Pape, who manufactured slaughtering knives and circumcision knives in Memel in the last decades of the 19th century and in the early 20th.
Each one of the knives is housed in a uniquely tailored box, with a lid made to be tilted open, rotating on a screw-hinge. All four boxes were expertly and creatively carved in wood, most likely by a Lithuanian-Jewish carpenter, who inscribed each one with a biblical Hebrew verse relevant to the purpose of each particular knife, along with an engraving depicting the appropriate kosher animal for which the knife was intended: "Of all clean birds you may eat" (Deuteronomy 14:11) with illustrations of a rooster and quail; "Of all clean winged things you may eat" (Deuteronomy 14:20) with depictions of a duck and goose; "…rams, lambs, and goats…" (Ezekiel 39:18) accompanied by pictures of a ram and billy goat (small livestock); and "Many bulls have encompassed me…" (Psalms 22:13), showing oxen (larger cattle).
In the possession of the Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv, is another slaughterer’s knife, similarly housed in a carved wooden box (042.008.002) bearing the name of the owner: "Asher Zelig son of Rabbi Yosef of blessed memory, slaughterer and examiner." Nevertheless, the set presented here is utterly unique, the only known example of its kind, with no documented equals or similar items; in all likelihood, it was privately commissioned.

Knives: approx. 19.5-37 cm. Boxes: approx. 4X4.5–5X43.5–27 cm. Overall good condition. Rusting to blades.

References and exhibitions:
1. Jews & Medicine. Tel Aviv, Beit Hatfutsot, 1995-1996.
2. Nicht ganz koscher? Not Quite Kosher?. Eisenstadt, Österreichisches Jüdisches Museum, 2000.
3. Koscher & Co. Über Essen und Religion. Berlin, Jüdisches Museum Berlin, 2009.
4. Jodendom: een boek vol verhalen, by Edward van Voolen. Amsterdam, Museumshop De Nieuwe Kerk, 2011, item no. 43.
5. Blood. Reflections on What Unites and Divides Us. London, Jewish Museum, 2015.
6. What's Cooking. Warsaw, Museum of the History of Polish Jews, 2022.
7. Great Jewish Treasures: A Collection of Precious Judaica associated with Torah Leaders, by Moshe Bamberger. New York, Mesorah Publications, 2015, p. 132.
Provenance: The Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv, 042.008.001.
The knives and boxes are documented on the Center for Jewish Art (CJA) website, item no. 380391.