Mizrach.

VAN GELDER, LEVI

Amsterdam, (1845)

Detailed engraving, featuring texts in striking decorative patterns in Dutch and Hebrew extracted from Psalms, the Jewish liturgy, Ethics of the Fathers, Midrash and Talmud. Illustrated with Biblical scenes including: Moses on Mount Sinai and with the Ten Commandments, priestly services, stoning as well as Masonic imagery.

For another example, see Jewish Historical Museum, Amsterdam, acc. no. M013071.

Levi David van Gelder (1816-78) was born in Amsterdam where he worked as a printer and lithographer. His imaginative and distinctive style combined micrographic text and large-scale panels, producing at least four different “Mizrach” examples, including the present lot. In 1864 van Gelder and his family immigrated to the United States, where he created equally elaborate Mizrach engravings (see Kestenbaum Sale 57, Lot 310). See Alice M. Greenwald. The Masonic Mizrah and Lamp: Jewish Ritual Art as a Reflection of Cultural Assimilation. Jewish Journal of Art, Vol. 10, (1984) pp. 87-101.