Page 347 - The Legacy of Abraham Rothstein - text

Genre: other

104 Praying Moslem
Wood
9” long x 3” wide

Carved from a short block of wood, this figure reveals few
flattering physical features. Its rendition is at once
dehumanizing, demeaning and slightly humorous: the head is a
smooth knob and the robed body swells up to a bulging
backside, from which two rigid lower legs and feet protrude
like horizontal lollipops. The bottom of the devotee is flat,
maintaining most of the block’s original rectangular surface
(compare no. 153). AR may be commenting here upon an
attitude of prayer which, in abasing its practitioners (flattened
against the earth, hugging the ground) leaves the least attractive
parts of their anatomy exposed to view.

17 Chinese scholar
Wood
18.25” x 4.25”

The venerable sage’s form emerges from a slightly curved
section of tree limb: head carved in the round, arms and hands
in low relief, and feet barely incised near the bottom of the
smooth cylindrical surface. His features and costume identify
his nationality, the scroll and feathered quill in his hands his
occupation (evidently AR was unaware of the use of a brush
rather than a pen in China). The emphasis is on the head,
bowed with age and wisdom; the creased forehead, long
drooping mustache, and intently gazing eyes (despite an almost
caricatural rendition), give a strong impression of a stern and
sober intellect. AR may have identified the Chinese scholar
with the Talmudic; in his carving, the resemblances are great.
The piece stands on a separate turned base.

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