AN IMPORTANT BORIS SCHATZ IVORY IN ORIGINAL BRASS FRAME.

This beautiful ivory plaque by Boris Schatz is the largest on record, the vast majority of his other such plaques tend to be 2 x 2.5 inches. The holdings of Jewish museums worldwide - including The Israel Museum - as well as any and all previous Judaica auctions (going back to Parke Bernet, 1949), do not record any Bezalel ivory plaques, including any by Boris Schatz, that are anywhere near the size of the present one. A plaque smaller than the present one appeared at auction at Sotheby’s Tel Aviv, Judaica, October 25th, 2000, lot 161. This Boris Schatz image “The Jewish Mother” is iconic, and was also produced in 1904 in bronze (see Y. Zalmona, Boris Schatz: The Father of Israeli Art (2006) p. 68), as an oil painting (see Yeshiva University Museum http://yumuseum.tumblr.com/post/22843270111/tzedakah-give-to-your-mama) and as a small ivory (see Sotheby’s Tel Aviv, Judaica, October 30th, 2002, lot 233). None however have the degree of detail that the present much larger ivory displays.