A Bezalel Wool Carpet, Jerusalem, ca. 1908

A Bezalel Wool Carpet, Jerusalem, ca. 1908

This carpet features a panoramic view of the Old City of Jerusalem superimposed over three linked art nouveau menorahs, framed with a border of linked rectangular cartouches encompassing the Hebrew word “Zion.” Signed twice “Bezalel Jerusalem” in Hebrew lettering and featuring a Hebrew verse from Isaiah: “In the days to come, the Mount of the Lord’s House shall stand firm above the mountains and tower above the hills” (2:2). This important carpet constitutes one of the best compositions produced by early Bezalel.

Physical Description

106 x 33 in.; 2700 x 840 mm.

Literature

Anton Felton, Jewish Carpets: A History and Guide (Suffolk: Antique Collectors' Club, 1997), 97 (no. 30).