Ze'ev Raban (1890-1970), Palm Tree, sketch for a stained-glass window at the YMCA building, [early 1930s]. Pencil on tracing paper. Stamped (Hebrew) "Ze'ev Raban, Workshop for Industrial Art (previously Gur-Arieh and Raban), Bezalel Jerusalem". The triple stained-glass window planned by Raban (one panel of which is seen in this sketch) was eventually not erected. A color sketch depicting all three panels of the planned triptych, in their proposed complete state, is held in the collection of the Israel Museum. Approx. 71X20 cm. Fair-good condition. Stains, creases, closed and open tears (some repaired). Matted.

"цвѣтникъ Іудеи" ["Yehuda's Flowerbed"], "Illustrated Children's Weekly Magazine." First year, Issue no. 36-37. Lugansk [Luhansk], 1912. Russian. The present issue features, among other things, short stories by Jacob Fichman and Aharon Avraham Kabak. The front cover was designed by Shmuel Ben David in the style of the Bezalel School, influenced by Art Nouveau. At the center is a youth wearing a large skullcap, standing barefoot in a flowerbed, studiously reading a book. Flanking him on both sides are rows of palms, characteristic of Bezalel works. In the background is a rural landscape typical of the Land of Israel. The Russian font on the cover is designed to resemble Hebrew script. The entire scene is framed by a pair of columns, each surmounted by a menorah, and capped with an architectonic dome with the Tablets of the Law in the foreground, flanked by a pair of lions. Shmuel Ben David (originally Shmuel Davidov) was born in Sofia, Bulgaria in 1884. He studied at the Art Academy in Sofia, under Professor Boris Schatz, and later immigrated with Schatz to Palestine and studied in the first class of Bezalel. From 1907, he was involved in establishing Bezalel's carpetry department, where he subsequently taught, and in the following years he also taught perspective, drawing, and decorative arts. Ben David was one of the founding members of the Jewish Artists Association and served as its first chairman. Died in Jerusalem in 1927 at the age of 42. Shmuel Ben David was one of Bezalel's senior instructors, mentoring numerous accomplished artists – including Nahum Gutman, Chaim Gliksberg, Moshe Castel, Avigdor Stematsky, and many others – and was among the most prominent contributors in molding the Bezalel design language. [519]-534 pp. + [2] ff. (title page and Table of Contents to the volume of issues of the weekly's first year of publication; title page bears an illustration identical to the one appearing on the cover). Poor condition. Stains, including foxing, dampstains, and mold. Tears, including open tears, to cover and leaves, some mended with adhesive tape. Fold lines to length of booklet. Inked stamps. Strips of paper for reinforcement to spine and to inside cover (between cover and first and last leaves).