The Song of Songs, A Marbadiah Wool Rug, Jerusalem 1920-21

centered with a stylized palm tree against a blue field inhabited by flora and fauna, the border enclosing peacocks flanking fountains alternating with grape clusters, inscribed in Hebrew with a verse from Song of Songs (2:12-13) "The blossoms have appeared in the land, The time of singing has come; The song of the turtledove is heard in our land. The green figs form in the fig tree, the vines in blossom proffer their fragrance", signed Marbadiah Jerusalem

Jerusalem, The Israel Museum, Bezalel 1906-1929, December 1982-June 1983, no. 49

Anton Felton, Jewish Carpets, Suffolk, 1997, no. 25, pp. 88-90, illustrated

The Song of Songs has been a profound influence in literature, art and music, and holds a unique place for the early secular Zionists.  Anton Felton incisively explains that these lyrical love songs convey the ideal and celebrate a concrete, lush world, a model on which these pioneers saw themselves; a normal, productive people whose roots are planted in the Land of Israel, enjoying the fruits of their labor. (Jewish Carpets, p. 88)

Inspired by the Art Nouveau style, this vibrant carpet is replete with free flowing, curving lines and intertwining floral patterns amidst a Fauvist blue background and an array of animals, including a deer, peacock, crane, and ibex.