Mizrach - an extremely rare wood panel, richly carved with lions, birds, Flowing scrolling foliage, columns with coiling snakes, Cohanim?s hands and a central Menorah – all stylized in the best manner of East European Jewish Folk Art.
The lower part applied with silver plaque finely cut-out with Hebrew dedicatory inscription indicating that this panel was the donation of Joseph Weimann and his wife, the Lady Chayale, the granddaughter(?) of the Rabbi, the Gaon (of blessed memory) Joseph the Ab Beth Din of the Holy Congregation Grosswardein ( Nagy- Varad or Oradea Mare, now part of Romania).
The hallmarks on the plaque are from Austria/ Hungary 1868-1872, although the Mizrach is much earlier.
Grosswardein is a large city in Western Transilvania (previously Hungary) with no tradition of Jewish folk art, therefore the Mizrach probably originated in Ukraine or Buchovina (North Eastern Romania), where there was a rich history of synagogue art in exactly this manner of decoration. In our opinion this Mizrach was made 1800-1840, acquired in Eastern Europe and re-dedicated circa 1870.
Crafted in the Ukrainian/ Polish tradition, this very important and rare wood Mizrach is iconic in its rich decorative elements, and typical of the very best of Jewish Folk Art.
(A similar, half size Mizrach with only floral decorations and two lions was sold at Sotheby's Tel Aviv, October 2000 for $56,000.)
22" x 17 ½" (57cm x 45cm).