Tapestry with a portrait of Theodor Herzl gazing at Jerusalem. [1920s]. Machine weave.
The tapestry design is based on an illustration by Ephraim Moses Lilien to the "Lieder des Ghetto" by Morris Rosenfeld. Lilien's illustration, called Der Jüdische Mai [The Jewish May], shows an Exilic Jew entangled in a thicket of thorns seething with snakes, gazing longingly towards the sun rising above Jerusalem.
In the tapestry, Herzl replaces the Exilic Jew. He stands on the left, his hands stretched forward, towards Jerusalem which is on the right (in the East). Between them are mountains and trees, and in the middle is the Dome of the Rock topped by a Star of David. The tapestry's margins are decorated with floral motifs and Stars of David.
Approx. 80X160 cm. Fringes. Good condition.
See: "Herzl in Profile, Herzl's Portrait in the Applied Arts". Tel Aviv Museum, 1978 (Hebrew). This catalogue notes that the tapestry was produced in Eastern Europe.