A Rare Mizrah Papercut, Circa 1900

Ink and gouache on paper.

This colorful decorative papercut plaque, known as a mizrah (Hebrew for “east”), was designed to be hung on the eastern wall of a home or synagogue to orient the direction of one’s prayer toward the city of Jerusalem. Profusely decorated, the papercut is dominated by pairs of symbolic animals: lions, eagles, and deer, which likely reference the text of Pirkei avot (Ethics of the Fathers) 5:23, which urges each individual to “be bold as a leopard, light as an eagle, swift as a deer, and strong as a lion to carry out the will of your Father in Heaven.” A central circular medallion contains the word mizrah beneath which is a stylized seven-branched Temple menorah. Further embellishing the composition is a vibrant menagerie of elephants, roosters, squirrels, and griffins—interwoven with lush foliage. The presence of the double-headed eagle, a motif historically associated with the Habsburg Monarchy and then adopted as the emblem of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, may reveal a place of origin for this mizrah.