Auction 58 - Rare and Important Items
Portrait of Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch Ashkenazi - The "Chacham Tzvi" - Original Painting and Interesting Inscription
Opening: $4,000
Unsold
Portrait of Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch Ashkenazi, the "Chacham Tzvi". [Holland, 18th or 19th century].
Watercolor and ink on paper; ink on parchment.
High-quality portrait of the "Chacham Tzvi", rendered precisely after an etching printed in Amsterdam during his lifetime. Accompanying the portrait is a piece of parchment bearing an interesting handwritten inscription by Jacob ben Chaim Berklau / Berkelo of Holland, in which he relates that the Chacham Tzvi was the sandak and mohel of his grandfather, Rabbi Shmuel ben Tzvi Berklau, in the year 5472 [1712], adding that "In the year 5474 he [the Chacham Tzvi] went away… and before going he blessed [my grandfather]… that he may live a long life… and leave a blessing behind him, and so it was".
Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch Ashkenazi (1660-1718) was the rabbi of the Altona, Hamburg and Wandsbeck communities, and the chief rabbi of the Ashkenazi community in Amsterdam. He passed through many communities in Germany and Poland and also served as a rabbi in Lviv. He wrote the responsa "Chacham Tzvi". His son, Rabbi Jacob Emden, known as the Ya'avetz, relates that during his father's visit to England, his portrait was painted in secret in oil colors, in a precise fashion, so much so that when seeing the painting "I staggered back, as if he were standing before me". He adds that from this painting, "reproductions were made… that sold for a high price".
Portrait: 24X34.5 cm, parchment piece: 6X18.5 cm. Good overall condition. The portrait is inserted in a passe-partout, with the piece of parchment attached to the external side. A few stains to portrait. Stains and creases to parchment.
Watercolor and ink on paper; ink on parchment.
High-quality portrait of the "Chacham Tzvi", rendered precisely after an etching printed in Amsterdam during his lifetime. Accompanying the portrait is a piece of parchment bearing an interesting handwritten inscription by Jacob ben Chaim Berklau / Berkelo of Holland, in which he relates that the Chacham Tzvi was the sandak and mohel of his grandfather, Rabbi Shmuel ben Tzvi Berklau, in the year 5472 [1712], adding that "In the year 5474 he [the Chacham Tzvi] went away… and before going he blessed [my grandfather]… that he may live a long life… and leave a blessing behind him, and so it was".
Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch Ashkenazi (1660-1718) was the rabbi of the Altona, Hamburg and Wandsbeck communities, and the chief rabbi of the Ashkenazi community in Amsterdam. He passed through many communities in Germany and Poland and also served as a rabbi in Lviv. He wrote the responsa "Chacham Tzvi". His son, Rabbi Jacob Emden, known as the Ya'avetz, relates that during his father's visit to England, his portrait was painted in secret in oil colors, in a precise fashion, so much so that when seeing the painting "I staggered back, as if he were standing before me". He adds that from this painting, "reproductions were made… that sold for a high price".
Portrait: 24X34.5 cm, parchment piece: 6X18.5 cm. Good overall condition. The portrait is inserted in a passe-partout, with the piece of parchment attached to the external side. A few stains to portrait. Stains and creases to parchment.