Shiviti – Moshe Mizrachi – Jerusalem. 1902

Shiviti, single leaf, lithograph, printed, with three illustrations of the menorah. Signed in print at the bottom “…Jerusalem, by Moshe Ben Yitzhak Mizrahi” and dated 1902.
Moshe Ben Yitzhak Mizrahi was born prior to 1870 in Tehran, moved to Eretz Yisrael around 1890, and changed his name to Mizrahi. He lived in Jerusalem and was a Sofer Stam. To make a living he opened a store that sold frames and mirrors in the spice market of the Old City. He died in the 1930s. He was known in Jerusalem as “The Menorah Painter” (Shiviti). The style of his work was naïve and folkloric.
21x28 cm. Poor condition. Holes, stains, fold marks and moisture damage, pieces are missing on the margins. Some of the damage has been roughly and unprofessionally repaired.
This leaf does not appear in “Arts and crafts in Eretz Yisrael in the 19th Century". Later versions appear in the MB CD.