Auction 87 - Jewish and Israeli Art, History and Culture
Including: sketches by Ze'ev Raban and Bezalel items, hildren's books, avant-garde books, rare ladino periodicals, and more
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Two sheets (color lithographs) – proofs of Lotto boards designed by Nehemia Bedarshi, featuring illustrations of the fruit, vegetables, and flowers of Palestine (several boards on each sheet; in all likelihood, the illustrations were influenced by a Lotto board game featuring the flowers of Palestine created by the painter Shmuel Charuvi, one of the teachers at the Bezalel School), with proofs of several other items: a business card and bookplate (?) of Shmuel Ben David, a library card for the Bezalel library, stamps (in Hebrew and Latin letters) of Ze'ev Raban (with both his adopted Hebrew and original surnames, "Z. Raban" and "Z. Ravitzki" respectively), Miriam Ravitzki, Shmuel Ben David, and M. Aloni, among others.
Two sheets, 50X34.5 cm. Good condition. Several minor tears to edges (not affecting print).
Reference: Nurit Shilo-Cohen, "Bezalel: 1906-1929," exhibition catalogue, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, 1983, pp. 204, 209 (in the Hebrew edition).
Comprehensive work by the art historian and curator Mordechai Narkiss, detailing – from both a historical and artistic perspective – the history and development of the Hanukkah lamp, in all its multifarious forms and variations. The book is dedicated in print to the memory of the founder of the Bezalel School of Arts and Crafts, Prof. Boris Schatz. Copy from an edition of 400 copies.
18, 102, [2] pp., LXIV pp. (plates; photographs), n pp., 31.5 cm. Good condition. Stains, mostly minor. Several tears mended with adhesive tape (not affecting text). Several leaves and plates partly detached. Strips of adhesive tape on inner margins of several leaves. Notation in pen on back endpaper. Binding with gilt impression. Minor blemishes to edges of binding.
1. "HaHalutzim" ("The Pioneers"). Jerusalem: Bney Bezalel, 1925. First edition. Hebrew.
Autograph inscription by the manager of "Bney Bezalel" publishing house, Yitzchak Narkis and his wife Frida, to Jacob Eisenberg (1893-1966).
[4], 20, [2] ff., 23.5 cm. Good condition. Foxing (some dark stains). Wear, stains and minor abrasions to binding.
2. "HaHalutzim" ("The Pioneers"). Jerusalem: Bney Bezalel, 1925. Second edition. Hebrew.
[4], 20, [2] ff., 23.5 cm. Good condition. Minor stains. Inked stamp to inside front board. Binding partly detached. Wear, stains and abrasions to boards; minor tears to spine.
3. "Dudaim". Text by Miriam Wilensky-Stekelis. Tel Aviv: Pnina, 5707 [1946].
Autograph inscription by Gur Aryeh, dated Jerusalem, 28.11.46.
[1] 20 ff. (silhouettes) + 20 printed tissue guards, approx. 30X20 cm. Good condition. Stains (mostly to cover). Bookplate to inside front cover. Cover partly detached; tears and open tears to edges and spine.
Provenance: Estate of Shlomo Kedmi.
Lot includes: • a Bakelite silhouette depicting camels and a palm tree • Four silhouette prints, one printed on postcard. Signed in the plate.
Bakelite silhouette: 11X11.5 cm. Good condition. Minor stains. Prints: size varies. Good condition. Minor stains and blemishes.
Provenance: Estate of Shlomo Kedmi.
Included: • Portraits of Ben-Yehuda, Tchernichovsky and Bialik. • Portrait of a Yemenite boy (inscribed by Gur-Aryeh; inscription dated "Pesach 1945"). • Pioneers dancing Hora. • Jews praying at the Western Wall. • Roses (two copies of the etching, colored). • And more.
All prints are signed in pencil by Gur Aryeh.
Size and condition vary.
Provenance: Estate of Shlomo Kedmi.
Meir Gur Aryeh (1891-1951), portrait of Theodor Herzl, woodcut.
Signed in the plate and in pencil.
A copy of this woodcut is held by the Petach Tikva Museum of Art and was part of the museum's exhibition entitled "Shadowscapes" in 2016-2017.
Approx. 19X14.5 cm. Good condition. Minor creases and stains.
Provenance: Estate of Shlomo Kedmi.
Ink and watercolor on paper. Signed with monogram and signature.
Sketch for a medallion depicting a figure in Oriental dress, sitting on a stool and smoking a nargilah.
Another sketch by Gur-Aryeh, in a similar color scheme, also signed with monogram and signature, and also produced for the "Nitzan group", is photographed in "Schatz's Bezalel 1906-1929", p. 17.
Sketch: approx. 5X5 cm. Leaf: 13.5X9 cm. Good condition. Minor stains.
Provenance: Estate of Shlomo Kedmi.
Chad Gadya with color illustrations by Ze'ev Raban. Sheet music at the end.
[16] pp (including cover), 17 cm. Good condition. Minor blemishes.
Color illustrations by Raban showing the Jewish holidays, with rhymed verses by Kipnis.
[16] leaves. 20.5 cm. Good condition. Minor blemishes and stains. Blemishes to tissue guards; some tissue guards detached. Minor defects to binding.
Provenance: Estate of Shlomo Kedmi.
The Story of Ruth, Graphically Told by Z. Raban. New York: American-Palestine Art Publishing Co., 1930. English.
The Scroll of Ruth, translated into English and accompanied by ten color prints by Ze'ev Raban. Silver binding with vegetal patterns and gilt impression. Additional print mounted onto front board, identical to one of the prints appearing in the book, showing Ruth supporting a sheaf of wheat over her head.
The following notation, handwritten in Hebrew by Raban, appears on the title page: "Ze'ev Raban / Jerusalem 28th of Sivan 5706 / 27.6.1946."
[13] ff., 31 cm. Good condition. Minor blemishes. Tears to tissue guards. Minor wear to edges of binding and to spine. Bookplate to front pastedown.
Provenance: Estate of Shlomo Kedmi.
Palestine, 10 pictures by Ze'ev Raban, Bezalel, Jerusalem. Jerusalem: Bnei Bezalel, 1931.
Album of reproductions of the series of paintings of cities by Ze'ev Raban, depicting Jerusalem, Tiberias, Safed, Jericho, Hebron and other cities, as well as Rachel's Tomb, the Western Wall, and the Tower of David. The reproductions are titled in English on the mounts; housed in a portfolio. The following notation, handwritten in Hebrew by Raban, appears on the inside of the portfolio's front cover: "Ze'ev Raban / Jerusalem 28th of Sivan 5706 / 27.6.1946."
10 reproductions, averaging 25.5X16.5 cm. Matted, and housed in portfolio, 34 cm. Good condition. Minor stains. Portfolio spine torn, with loss; front cover of portfolio detached.
Provenance: Estate of Shlomo Kedmi.
Pencil, pen, ink, and watercolor on paper.
Some 40 leaves (loose leaves, detached from sketchbook) with dozens of sketches and drawings, in various states of completion. Includes: • Illustrations to Bialik's "King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba". • Illustrations to Bialik's "Solomon and Ashmedai". • A drawing depicting Mattathias with the corpse of the Hellenized Jew by the altar, and an illustration depicting Eleazar Maccabeus (HaMakabi) slaying a war elephant. • Sketch for a receipt for the sum of 5 Kuruş (Grush) – given for a donation made to the "National Council of the Jewish community of Palestine" (eventually printed in Meir Gur Arye's design). • Sketch for a bookplate. • Sketch of a playing card. • A series of sketches for illustrations to the Book of Genesis: The Creation of the World, Eve and the Snake, the Expulsion from Eden, and Cain and Abel; a sketch for the title page of a book titled "Illustrated Legends of Israel" (Hebrew), for which the aforementioned illustrations were probably made. It seems that this book was never published. A different version of the sketch titled "the Creation of the World" is featured on the cover of the catalogue "Raban Remembered". • Sketch for the title page of the Hebrew magazine "Ganenu". • Sketch for a logo of the Herzliya Hebrew Gymnasium. • Sketches for headstones. • A finished logo for the Miriam Publishing House, Jerusalem. • Sketches of jewelry designs. • Sketch of a Torah finial. • Sketch of a hanging lamp. • Initial sketch of a Hanukkah lamp (manufactured by the Sharar Workshop. See: Ze'ev Raban: a Hebrew Symbolist, p. 78. Item 82). • Sketch of a Torah ark curtain. • Sketch of a Mezuzah. • A label with a dedication to the artist's mother, Rivka Reizil Ravitski, who perished in the Warsaw Ghetto. • Many additional sketches, some in early stages of development, showing motifs which were prevalent in Raban's work throughout the years.
Many of these sketches were featured in the catalogue "Raban Remembered".
Leaves: approx. 33X24 cm. Loose leaves, detached from sketchbook. Condition varies. Marginal tears. Stains and wear. Some leaves cut. Sketchbook cover worn and damaged.
Literature: Raban Remembered: Jerusalem's Forgotten Master. New York: Yeshiva University, 1982.
Provenance: Estate of Shlomo Kedmi.