Herbert Samuel (facing right), circa. 1920-1925; machine pile weave made in Jerusalem by the Alliance Israelite Universelle School; size, circa. 57cm x 107cm.

Samuel was the a Jew, and the first High Commissioner of Palestine under the British Mandate. His arrival was seen by the local Jewish community as, literally, the coming of the Messiah (described first-hand in the documentary series "Pillar of Fire"). During his tenure (1920-1925), in 1922, the British Government published a 'White Paper' supporting Jewish immigration to Palestine.

Of the AIU School's weave designs it is interesting to note that although most of their works commemorate Jewish and non-Jewish Zionists, non-Governmental figures (like Weizmann and Nordau below) have more ornamental designs, also incorporating a Star of David (even though Samuel himself was also Jewish), whereas "official" figures receive more staid and restrained designs. Felton-17.

More pictures: reverse of corner, a period photo of Herbert Samuel, for reference

Item Code: 0130579 Price: $700

Chaim Weizmann (facing left), circa. 1917-1920/31; machine pile weave made in Jerusalem by the Alliance Israelite Universelle School; size, circa. 57cm x 107cm.

Weizmann became president of the British Zionist Federation in 1917, working with foreign secretary Arthur Balfour to obtain from the British Government the landmark "Balfour Declaration", which decreed that the British government viewed favorably the establishment of a Jewish national home in Palestine for the Jewish people.

Weizmann subsequently became president of the World Zionist Organization from 1920 until 1931, during which time he oversaw key events in the local Jewish community of Palestine, including the creation of the Jewish Battalions (1917) and the founding of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem (1918). The carpet may be from as early as 1917-1920 given Weizmann's young appearance at that time (see photograph for reference); Felton-14.

More pictures: reverse of corner, a period photo of Chaim Weizmann, for reference

Item Code: 0130580 Price: $700

Arthur James Balfour (facing right), circa. 1917-1920; machine pile weave made in Jerusalem by the Alliance Israelite Universelle School; size, circa. 60cm x 107cm.

Balfour was the British foreign secretary at the time in which he issued his "Balfour Declaration" (to Lord Rothschild) in 1917. Alhough he subsequently participated in numerous public events and private visits to the Jewish community in Palestine, he is best remembered locally for his 1917 Declaration (hence the estimated dating of the carpet). Similar to Felton-11 (facing left).

More pictures: reverse of corner, a period photo of Balfour, for reference

Item Code: 0130581 Price: $650

Max Nordau (facing right), circa. 1905-1911/1923; machine pile weave made in Jerusalem by the Alliance Israelite Universelle School; size, circa. 60cm x 107cm.

Nordau joined Theodore Herzl's mission to establish a world Zionist movement and helped co-found the World Zionist Organization (1897), serving as its president from 1905 to 1911. Nordau was particularly influential in the early years of the Organization and the spiritual founder of "muscular Judaism" (a movement promoting Jewish sportsmanship as an expression of self-respect and nationalism); during the First World War and thereafter his influence waned, and he died in 1923.

Some photographic evidence from Palestine of that time (1923; see photo for reference) suggests this carpet may have been created to commemorate his passing, though the AIU School had been producing Jewish/Zionist carpets since the turn of the 20th Century and this design may well date to that period instead. Similar to Felton-15 (facing left).

More pictures: reverse of corner, a period photo of Nordau, for reference, a Nordau carpet in an early Tel Aviv barber-shop, 1923

Item Code: 0130582 Price: $800