Yosef Zvi Geiger – Papercut for Shavuot – Tablets of the Law and Lions – Safed, 1901/1902

Yosef Zvi Geiger – Papercut for Shavuot – Tablets of the Law and Lions – Safed, 1901/1902

Hand-painted papercut for Shavuot by R. Yosef Zvi Geiger (1860-1944). [Safed], 1901/1902.
Round papercut. Tablets of the Law topped with a golden Torah crown held by a pair of lions occupy the center. The Tablets of the Law motif seems to indicate that this papercut was designed for Shavuot.
Giza Frankel, in the book The Art of the Jewish Papercut (Hebrew; Masada, 1983; pp. 66-67) documents an identical papercut for Shavuot (in different colors), in the collection of the Tel Aviv Museum of Ethnography and Folklore. There the papercut is described as a Shavuot decoration from Galicia, late 19th century.
Diameter: 20 cm. Good condition. Stains. Minor blemishes. Mended with paper on verso. Minor holes and tears.

The art of papercutting is perhaps the most quintessential type of European Jewish folk art. Eastern European Jewish papercuts assumed many different forms and exhibited a wealth of themes and motifs, to fit a wide range of purposes. They were used as "Mizrah" and "Shiviti" plaques; "Yahrzeit" plaques; "Shir HaMa'alot" plaques (Psalm 121) believed to give protection to childbearing mothers and newborns; "roizalakh" (rose-shaped ornaments) to decorate the household during the Shavu'ot holiday; "Ushpizin" plaques for the Sukkot holiday; and other forms of items.

R. Yosef Zvi Geiger (1870-1944), native of Safed. One of the most prominent public figures in Safed. He served as general secretary of Safed's "Kollel" institutions, and his home was a regular meeting place for the "gabba'im" (managers) of the various local Kollelim and congregations. The Yishuv's foremost newspapers – including "Havatzelet, " "HaLevanon, " and "HaZefirah" – regularly published his articles. He also served as a scribe for the Kollelim, and assisted illiterate members of the community by writing letters on their behalf. Geiger was renowned in 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, " certificates for donors and greeting letters, and papercuts in the Eastern European style. His contemporaries recall the beautiful "ketubahs" (marriage documents) he produced for the city's couples, decorated with gilt lettering and floral and vegetal designs; and the 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 several verses from the Bible 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 inscribed several headstones in Safed). Benjamin also relates that R. Yosef Zvi was a lover and champion of the Hebrew language, and in his efforts to promote the language he would put up posters with words in Hebrew on the walls of study rooms and yeshivas throughout the town, so that children would get to know these words. He personally taught the language to his children and grandchildren, ensuring they would become entirely fluent.

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