EXCEPTIONAL SET OF SILVER TORAH ORNAMENTS.

Internationally renowned silversmith and founder of the State University of New York College at New Paltz’s Fine Metals Program, Kurt J. Matzdorf, taught at SUNY New Paltz from 1957 to 1985. Professor Emeritus of Metals, he founded the College gold and silversmithing programs in 1966. Born in Stadtoldendorf in Germany’s Lower Saxony region in 1922, Matzdorf immigrated to England on a Kindertransport in 1939. He completed an art degree in sculpting at the University of London, but it was only upon moving to New York in 1949 that he discovered his talent for gold and silversmithing. Matzdorf’s work in precious metal fashioning Judaica, is a modern interpretation of traditional ritual objects that visually celebrate Jewish history. Common in Matzdorf’s work is the incorporation of classic symbolism paired with ingenious contemporary design. His use of linear symmetry and streamline sculptural effects, successfully creates an almost aerodynamic element to his geometrically-inspired sparse designs.