Auction 32 - Objects: Judaica, Israeliana, Archeology and Medals

Collection of Ivory Carvings

Opening: $2,500
Sold for: $3,125
Including buyer's premium
Thirty five ivory carvings (and other materials) that were made by students in the Carving Department of “Bezalel” and in the independent workshops of Moshe Murro and Mordecai Avnieli, Jerusalem, [1910s and 1920s]. Carved and engraved ivory; Galalith (material that looks like ivory); marble. Most of the works here are made of carved ivory, by students in the Carving Department of “Bezalel” (managed by Meir Gur-Aryeh from 1911) or in the independent workshops of Moshe Murro (founder of the "Kamea" workshop for carving amulets in ivory and stone) and Mordecai Avnieli (who taught in the Ivory Carving Department in the years 1925-1929 and was the head of the ivory carving workshop at the end of the 1920s). Two of the works are made from marble, and it is possible that some were made from galalith (a material that looks like ivory) and two are made of an unidentified material. These plaques were mostly used for inclusion in silver, leather or wooden articles. The plaques bear various decorations, among them: a wild goat, figures of men and women, a winged lion, a hunting bird, a painter in a studio, a mythological bird (phoenix or griffin), a Jew praying, a goat and a kid, a kid and a stick (“Chad Gadya”) etc. Some are signed on the front or the reverse side with the stamps of the artists: "A" / "M" (apparently Michaeli) / "David" / "Z. [Ze’ev Navon”] / “Murro” / “Horovitz” / “Farberov”; Some are marked with numbers on the reverse side. Various sizes and conditions.
Israeliana
Israeliana