BERNARD GORDON HEAVY SCULPTED BRONZE.

20th century

Composed in a high-relief style. Consists of three, seemingly disconnected narrative sections: At top, pair of bearded angelic-styled figures; below, pair of worshippers each wearing a Talith and rolling an open Sefer Torah. Large central register features a religious man with book propped open upon a synagogue-shtender and flanked by two petitioners, one of whom is a younger man wearing a traditional Polish-Jewish cap. With Hebrew title: Am Keshei Oref (“A stiff-necked people.”).

A most atmospheric item clearly created by an artist comfortably familiar with Orthodox Jewish ritual and character. And yet it is difficult to determine for what purpose this artwork served, or indeed what the narrative is behind the three component parts. Nonetheless, all in all, this is a handsome and well designed piece. Philadelphia sculptor Bernard Gordon studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in the early 20th century. This sculpture appears on the cover of the first issue of “Yom Tov Blatter” edited by Joseph L. Malamut, New York-Philadelphia, April 1943.