The Russian-Turkeyish [sic] War "Pllwna".

Auction 85 | Thursday, November 07th, 2019 at 1:00pm

Fine Judaica: Printed Books, Manuscripts, Graphic & Ceremonial Art

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Lot 223

(AMERICANA)

The Russian-Turkeyish [sic] War "Pllwna".

Colored Lithograph. Text in Yiddish and English. “Copyrigth [sic!] by Prof. J.S. Kolbe, NY.” 21 x 27 inches (image size). Closely shaved, old tape stains along margins, crudely laid down.

New York, J. Richman, 1877:

Est: $2,000 - $3,000

The Russians suffered their first serious reverse at Plevna (Northern Bulgaria) in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78. The purpose of this image was likely Russian propaganda, an attempt to gain the sympathy of American Jewry, as the Turks were said to be recruiting for their army in New York. Furthermore, the pro-Turkish press had publicized atrocities committed by the Russian army against the Jewish civilian population. See The Jewish Heritage in American Folk Art (1984) p.61; and A. Rubens, A Jewish Iconography, Supplementary Volume (1982) Addendum 7-8, no. 2194a color plates 72-73.