“Shavuos’el” / “roizeleh, ” papercut for the holiday of Shavu’ot, by Yosef Zvi Geiger. [Safed], 1903.
Symmetrical papercut, hand-made and painted in watercolor. The work centers around a large flower, situated on top of a tree. Sprouting outward from the flower are leaves, and branches bearing buds and much smaller flowers in a different color. The tree is flanked by a pair of deer. The papercut is titled and dated in pencil (in Hebrew) on verso: “Made in Year 5663 [1903] on the occasion of the holiday of Shavu’ot.”
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23.5X21 cm. Overall good condition. Pinholes to edges. Few stains and creases. Several minor tears.

Yosef Zvi Geiger (1870-1944), native of Safed. One of the most accomplished and prominent public figures involved with Safed’s Torah and charity institutions. Served as general secretary of Safed’s “kolel” institutions, and was influential in running them. His home served as a regular meeting place for the “gaba’im” (managers) of the various “kolelim” and congregations. The Yishuv’s foremost newspapers – including “Havatzelet, ” “HaLevanon, ” and “HaZefirah” – all regularly published his articles. His penmanship and elegant calligraphy rendered his handwriting eminently legible; among his many other duties, he served as a “sofer” (ritual scribe) for the kolelim, and assisted illiterate members of the community by writing letters on their behalf. Geiger was renowned in his hometown of Safed for being both a gifted scribe and talented painter, entrusted with producing beautifully scripted documents. Among his extant works are splendid “Mizrah” and “Shiviti” plaques; calligraphic and illustrated title pages for “donors’ books”; illuminated donors’ certificates and letters of greeting; and papercuts in the Eastern European style. His contemporaries in Safed glowingly recall the beautiful marriage contracts he produced for the town’s couples, decorated with gilt lettering and with floral and vegetal patterns; and artworks he created to adorn the walls of the local synagogues, including gilt-lettered plaques. Among his many special talents was his ability to inscribe micrographic texts onto grains of wheat; he could fit entire biblical verses onto a single grain. In the (Hebrew) book of memoirs by Yosef Zvi’s grandson, Benjamin Geiger, entitled “One of the Elders of Safed, ” Benjamin writes that his grandfather also specialized in engraving in stone, and his lettering appears on a number of Safed’s headstones.

PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.