RUG DEPICTING MAX NORDAU. Bezalel Schoool, Jerusalem, early 20th century.

The central panel of this machine pile weave chenille rug depicts Max Nordau against a red background. The border consists of foliate and geometric patterns in red, yellow, grey and white. A Star of David appears at top center. H: 1057mm x W: 635mm (without fringe). Hole in cotton edge.

Max Nordau (1948 - 1923,) a physician born in Pest, Hungary, was well known as a political and philosophical writer before he met Theodor Herzl in 1892. Together the two journalists formalized the concept of a Jewish homeland. In 1897, Nordau drafted the Basel program at the First Zionist Congress, and his subsequent addresses to the Zionist congresses, when published as a collection, became a classic of Zionist literature. See: A. Felton, Jewish Carpets: A History and Guide (1997) p. 79.