AN IMPORTANT BORIS SCHATZ IVORY IN ORIGINAL BRASS FRAME.

Jerusalem, Bezalel era, c. 1906

Ivory plaque entitled: “A Jewish Mother” depicting a kerchiefed woman cradling a young boy as he places a coin into a charity box in aid of “Meir Ba’al Haness.” Encased in original hand chased brass frame, likely designed by Ze’ev Raban, with Judaic elements that include the Ten Commandments, Lions of Judah, Temple Menorahs, Pillars of Solomon. Title of the ivory plaque, “Jewish Mother” is repeated on frame at top, below are Hebrew verses: “Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching…Educate your child onto the right path and even when he is old he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 1:8 and 22:6). The ivory is signed “B. Schatz” and “Jerusalem” in Hebrew. 6.25 x 3.85 inches (including frame, the entirety measures 9.25 x 5.75 inches).

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.