Lot 160
Silver-Plated Cigarette Box – Bezalel
Silver-plated cigarette box, product of Bezalel, designed by Ze'ev Raban. Jerusalem, [1906-29].
The front of the box bears a relief featuring an elderly man smoking a narghile, after a drawing by Ze'ev Raban. The back bears a relief showing the Western Wall, enclosed by a stylized Star of David. Each relief marked, respectively (Hebrew), "Yerushalem Bezalel, " and "Bezalel Yerushalem." The relief depicting a nargileh smoker also appears on a matchbox, product of the Sharar workshop, one of the workshops functioning under the auspices of Bezalel. See: Chaya Benjamin (ed.), "Early Israeli Arts and Crafts, Bezalel Treasures from the Alan B. Slifka Collection in the Israel Museum, " exhibition catalogue, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, 2008, p. 47.
6X9.5 cm. Good condition. Minor stains.
1. Estate of Mordechai Avniel, director of the Small Sculpture Section of the Bezalel School's Sculpture Department. 2. Estate of Bezalel Avniel. 3. Private collection.
