“Shavuos’el” / “roizeleh”, papercut for the holiday of Shavu’ot, by Yosef Zvi Geiger. [Safed], Sivan 1915.
Symmetrical papercut, hand-made and painted in watercolor, and decorated in gilt. The work centers around a rounded octagonal star with decorated sides, enclosed within a circle. The surface and corners are all cut in patterns of flowers, branches, and leaves. In the middle of the star is a colored pitcher; rising out of the pitcher are branches with flowers, and a pair of birds hovers in the middle foreground. The leaves encircling the pitcher and birds bears a gilt (Hebrew) inscription: “The Law [Torah] of the Lord is perfect / restoring / the soul… / the precepts of the Lord / are right / rejoicing / the heart…” (Psalms 19:7-8). The papercut is titled and dated in pencil (in Hebrew) on the back: “Made in Sivan Year 5765 [1915], time of the Great War / a year of wars [involving] most of the world, a year of moratorium”.
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23.5X24 cm. Overall good condition. Pinholes to margins. Few stains and creases. Minor repairs with adhesive tape.

Yosef Zvi Geiger (1870-1944), native of Safed. One of the most accomplished and prominent public figures involved with Safed’s Torah and charity institutions. Served as general secretary of Safed’s “kolel” institutions, and was influential in running them. His home served as a regular meeting place for the “gaba’im” (managers) of the various “kolelim” and congregations. The Yishuv’s foremost newspapers – including “Havatzelet, ” “HaLevanon, ” and “HaZefirah” – all regularly published his articles. His penmanship and elegant calligraphy rendered his handwriting eminently legible; among his many other duties, he served as a “sofer” (ritual scribe) for the kolelim, and assisted illiterate members of the community by writing letters on their behalf. Geiger was renowned in his hometown of Safed for being both a gifted scribe and talented painter, entrusted with producing beautifully scripted documents. Among his extant works are splendid “Mizrah” and “Shiviti” plaques; calligraphic and illustrated title pages for “donors’ books”; illuminated donors’ certificates and letters of greeting; and papercuts in the Eastern European style. His contemporaries in Safed glowingly recall the beautiful marriage contracts he produced for the town’s couples, decorated with gilt lettering and with floral and vegetal patterns; and artworks he created to adorn the walls of the local synagogues, including gilt-lettered plaques. Among his many special talents was his ability to inscribe micrographic texts onto grains of wheat; he could fit entire biblical verses onto a single grain. In the (Hebrew) book of memoirs by Yosef Zvi’s grandson, Benjamin Geiger, entitled “One of the Elders of Safed, ” Benjamin writes that his grandfather also specialized in engraving in stone, and his lettering appears on a number of Safed’s headstones.

PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.