Auction 5 - Jewish and Israeli History and Culture
Marein Souvenir Shop Archive
Opening: $10,000
Unsold
R. Marein store for antiquities, art and Judaica was established in Vienna in 1899 by Leo Marein. In the early 20th Century the Marein family made Aliya to Jerusalem and opened a store for Eretz Israel souvenirs. When Leo Marein died in the early 1930s, his daughter Rivka assumed management of the store, succeeding
in making it the most prestigious and leading souvenir shop in the country. Her success
was due to the knowledge she acquired during the period the store was run by her father, her knowledge of numerous languages, and to her husband Max Klein, who joined the store in the mid-1930s.
The motto of the store was “uncompromising quality”, and Rivka expanded the business to include a widespread range of Eretz Israel hand-crafted works, including original works from the “Bezalel” school. By the 1920s the name “Bezalel” was already a trademark, and as the result of a legal prosecution, the Jerusalem courts ruled that the word “Bezalel” which appeared on the signs of “Marein,” and other souvenir shops must be smaller than the name of the stores.
The “Marein” store sold a variety of Judaica items, along with hand-crafted pieces from olivewood, Dead Sea stone, copper, silver, ivory, and mother-of-pearl. Yemenite and Bedouin jewelry, Hebron glass work, Persian and Armenian ceramics, damask work, Jewish art including drawings and sculptures, souvenirs for pilgrims as well as archaeological pieces.
In the 1950s, as a result of well publicized deterioration
in the relationship between Rivka and her husband, he took their only son and left Israel. Within a short time the shop had closed.
We offer four albums with photographs, textile samples, letters and print samples. The collection
includes many hundreds of items, organized
in the albums according to subject :
1. Embroidery Album – examples of Bedouin, Palestinian, and other embroidery from the beginning of the 20th century. The album was used for ordering embroidery for dresses, as can be seen in the photographs in album 2.
2. Catalog album. Includes over 100 photographs,
with hundreds of items available for sale in the store, some with a typewritten price list.
Silver objects from Bezalel, jewelry, dresses, Armenian ceramics, antique Judaica objects, Hebron glass, olivewood pieces, and more.
3. Thick accounts book with photographs of jewelry and copper objects, including over 200 small photographs showing hundreds of items. Some of the photographs have been taken from printed catalogs, others are original. Some of the items have handwritten descriptions.
4. Large album containing approximately one hundred letters with envelopes attached, sent to the store from all over the world, 10 large photographs of the store, Arab women embroidering
for the store and views of Jerusalem, 27 printed advertisements of the store: envelopes, tickets, stationery, etc.
The photographs show the wide range of items available, including clothing with embroidery options for order, all with uncompromising quality. The entire collection is an important documentation of the store and of the artistic souvenir industry in Eretz Israel.
in making it the most prestigious and leading souvenir shop in the country. Her success
was due to the knowledge she acquired during the period the store was run by her father, her knowledge of numerous languages, and to her husband Max Klein, who joined the store in the mid-1930s.
The motto of the store was “uncompromising quality”, and Rivka expanded the business to include a widespread range of Eretz Israel hand-crafted works, including original works from the “Bezalel” school. By the 1920s the name “Bezalel” was already a trademark, and as the result of a legal prosecution, the Jerusalem courts ruled that the word “Bezalel” which appeared on the signs of “Marein,” and other souvenir shops must be smaller than the name of the stores.
The “Marein” store sold a variety of Judaica items, along with hand-crafted pieces from olivewood, Dead Sea stone, copper, silver, ivory, and mother-of-pearl. Yemenite and Bedouin jewelry, Hebron glass work, Persian and Armenian ceramics, damask work, Jewish art including drawings and sculptures, souvenirs for pilgrims as well as archaeological pieces.
In the 1950s, as a result of well publicized deterioration
in the relationship between Rivka and her husband, he took their only son and left Israel. Within a short time the shop had closed.
We offer four albums with photographs, textile samples, letters and print samples. The collection
includes many hundreds of items, organized
in the albums according to subject :
1. Embroidery Album – examples of Bedouin, Palestinian, and other embroidery from the beginning of the 20th century. The album was used for ordering embroidery for dresses, as can be seen in the photographs in album 2.
2. Catalog album. Includes over 100 photographs,
with hundreds of items available for sale in the store, some with a typewritten price list.
Silver objects from Bezalel, jewelry, dresses, Armenian ceramics, antique Judaica objects, Hebron glass, olivewood pieces, and more.
3. Thick accounts book with photographs of jewelry and copper objects, including over 200 small photographs showing hundreds of items. Some of the photographs have been taken from printed catalogs, others are original. Some of the items have handwritten descriptions.
4. Large album containing approximately one hundred letters with envelopes attached, sent to the store from all over the world, 10 large photographs of the store, Arab women embroidering
for the store and views of Jerusalem, 27 printed advertisements of the store: envelopes, tickets, stationery, etc.
The photographs show the wide range of items available, including clothing with embroidery options for order, all with uncompromising quality. The entire collection is an important documentation of the store and of the artistic souvenir industry in Eretz Israel.
Bezalel
Bezalel