Bidspirit auction | Ze'ev Raban (1890-1970) – Collection

Ze'ev Raban (1890-1970) – Collection of Sketches for Playing Cards – Jerusalem, 1920 - Ze'ev Raban (1890-1970), sketches for two different series of playing cards – Biblical figures and figures from the history of Arabia and Islam. Jerusalem, [ca. 1920]. Ink and pencil on paper and tracing paper. Some leaves stamped ”Z. Raban, Industrial Art Studio (Formerly Gur-Aryeh & Raban), Bezalel Jerusalem”. Some 24 leaves with sketches for playing cards. Many of them depict a few figures, and some are two-sided. The cards were published in 1920 in two different series – Biblical figures and figures from the history of Arabia and Islam. among the figures depicte: Saul (?), Jonathan, Bathsheba, Absalom, Solomon, Queen Sheba, Ashmedai, Esther, Harbonah and Judith; Antarah ibn Shaddad, al-Khansāʾ, Harūn al-Rashīd, Rostam, Abū Nuwās, Scheherazade, Khosrow, Hatim al-Tai, Al-Zeir Abu Layla al-Muhalhel Adi ibn Rabia', al-Nu'man. Some sketches show figures not included in the two series of cards published in 1920: Adam and Eve, Rebecca, and others. 24 leaves. Size and condition vary. Literature: Batsheva Goldman Ida, Ze'ev Raban: a Hebrew Symbolist. Tel Aviv and Jerusalem: Tel Aviv Museum of Art and Yad Yitzhak Ben Zvi, 2001. Pp. 129-132. Provenance: Estate of Shlomo Kedmi.