AN IMPORTANT CUT-OUT PAPER SUKAH DECORATION. Vilna, 1841.

This papercut would have hung on the Eastern wall of a Sukkah, indicating the direction of prayer. It was made to commemorate the Vilna Gaon (1720 -1797), perhaps the best known of the sages who lived in the “Jerusalem of Lithuania.” For a similar example in the collection of the Israel Museum see I. Shachar, Jewish Tradition in Art: The Feuchtwanger Collection of Judaica (1971) No. 112 color plate VII, p. 52. Among the examples of papercut Mizrachs published, those designed for Sukkoth are most uncommon. See Shadur, J. & Y. Jewish Papercuts (1994). Dr. Michael Magen of the Israel Museum, Jerusalem has contributed to the scholarship concerning this Lot SEE ILLUSTRATION