9th Dec, 2020 10:00
Fine Interiors - Two Day Sale - Live Online
598
Edouard Moyse (French, 1827-1908)
Edouard Moyse (French, 1827-1908)
'La Bénédiction de l'Aïeul' (The Blessing of the Ancestor)
signed 'Moyse' l.l., oil on canvas
77 x 118cm
Edouard Moyse was a Jewish painter from Nancy who specialised in painting scenes of Jewish life.
This painting is of the Kiddush, the sanctification/benediction. Although the Sabbath comes round every week, it is nevertheless holier than most of the great religious festivals that occur during the rest of the year; it marks the end of the sixth day of Creation, when God rested from all his labours, and is sanctified with the Shabbat meal usually after synagogue on Friday evening. Shabbat, like all other religiously observed dates, begins, not on Saturday morning, but at sunset on the Friday evening, and ends with the sighting of the first star on Saturday evening.
It marks the day when Jews should refrain from all forms of work, physical activity like carrying, playing a sport, entertainment and so on. The day should be spent in contemplation, enjoying family life, and religious study.
The pater familias is on the left, reciting or singing the Kiddush, and when he is finished, he sips from the goblet, then pours some into each of the other persons’ glasses - that would include family as well as guests, and indeed many families today, especially Levantine Jews, still set an extra place for an unknown guest. After the wine, the father and the males older than 13 wash their hands, and return to the table to say the benediction over the bread (…and God brought forth bread from the Earth), before breaking the bread - not cutting it, because that would be an act of labour - and giving each person a piece, having sprinkled it with salt, which is to remind us that, on being banished from the Garden of Eden, we had to thereafter labour by the sweat of our brow. In the present painting, the father, while saying the Kiddush, is resting his hand on the Challa, the bread, ready for the next blessing.
We are grateful to Joseph Mankowitz for his assistance with the catalogue entry.
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Sold for £25,000
Condition Report
Oil on canvas which has been lined. The canvas tension is good and the picture is in plane. The paint layer is stable overall. There is a scuff in the paint layers and varnish at the lower right corner. Scattered across the picture are darkened spots of age cracks, these are stable but give the painting a slightly mottled appearance in some areas. There are a few localised areas of retouching, mainly located along the left edge. The varnish is clear and even but very brittle, white spots across the surface are actually abrasion in the varnish layer. There is a light layer of dust present and some fly spots. The frame is in a good condition.
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Auction: Fine Interiors - Two Day Sale - Live Online, 9th Dec, 2020
Viewing
VIEWING BY APPOINTMENT
Due to current social distancing restrictions, we will be offering viewing by appointment only. One hour time slots will be available from:
Fri 4 December, 9am - 5pm;
Sat 5 December, 10am - 4pm;
Sun 6 December, 10am - 4pm;
Mon 7 December, 9am - 5pm
REMOVAL OF LOTS
Please note that all lots should be removed by 5pm on Monday 4 January 2021. Furniture lots remaining after this date will be removed to Perry Removals, Chapel End, Broxted, Essex CM6 2BW. Removal will be at a cost of £20 +VAT per lot and storage will be charged at £2 +VAT per lot, per day.
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