Rothschild Wedding Plaque, Jerusalem: Alter Borenstein, 1913

Illustrated manuscript (23 1/2 x 17 3/4 in.; 598 x 452 mm). Written and illustrated in colored inks and gouache. Paper mottled. Set within a massive Olive-wood frame (32 1/2 x 26 3/4 in.; 825 x 680 mm). The word Jerusalem elegantly carved into the frame. Glazed. (Not examined out of frame)

This monumental plaque was created for the purpose of congratulating Baron Edmond James de Rothschild and his wife Adelaide, on the occasion of the marriage of their son Jacob (James Armand de Rothschild) to Dorothy Mathilde Pinto (Dolly) in 1913. The plaque was produced at the behest of the administrators of the Bikur Holim Hospital in Jerusalem as a gesture of acknowledgement of the great impact of the Rothschild family’s philanthropic efforts and accomplishments in the Land of Israel. Written and illustrated by an artist named Alter D. Borenstein, a native Jerusalemite, the plaque is festively illustrated with elaborately painted floral and faunal motifs. The lower corners feature two images of the Bikur Holim Hospital, both the current (1913) building and an artist’s rendition of the proposed new building (opened in 1925). Representations of musical instruments are in the upper corners above which a crenelated border is evocative of Jerusalem’s city walls.