Jewish Gothic Horror
Given my interest in the Jewish experience, I thought you would be interested in the following story. It involves a master silversmith named Israel Rouchomovsky who in 1906 unveiled a macabre golden skeleton complete with its own velvet lined miniature coffin – a stunning piece of craftsmanship! All the more remarkable is the fact that he lived a life poised between fame and pogrom. It is a testament to the Jewish ability to convert suffering into art. Today, every crazed suicide bomber has an army of would be psychologists trying to explain away his/her deed by talking about the bomber’s hard-luck life. First of all, not all terrorists have a hard-luck life. Bin Laden was a multi-millionaire who became richer by successfully playing the market, making money off the fact that he knew where the next terror attack would take place. Second of all, if everyone with a hard-luck story strapped a bomb to his/her chest, the world would have ended long ago. Here is a macabre but powerful example of hard-luck – in some bizarre way – celebrating life by illustrating death.
Excerpts from article in ibtimes.co.uk
A macabre golden skeleton complete with its own velvet-lined miniature coffin is set to go under the hammer.
As befits the unusual skeleton, the story of its creator is as singular as the object itself.
Auction giants Sotheby’s oversaw the sale in New York of the fully articulated skeleton, as one of many lots from a stunning collection built up over many years by wealthy US financer Michael Steinhardt and his wife Judy.
Created between 1896 and 1906, the skeleton and its intricate coffin was a labour of love for one Israel Rouchomovsky.
He was a Jewish silversmith from Russia, who in his own lifetime was caught up in a forgery scandal and had to flee for his life from anti-Semetic violence in the city of Odessa where he lived, at the turn of the 20th Century.
Complete with 176 moving parts, Rouchomovsky’s fascinatingly morbid skeleton is a piece reflecting the turbulent times of its creation in its lavish attention to detail and the extremely high degree of skill invested in it.
Running along the side faces of the coffin are depictions by Rouchomovsky of the course of life in relief – with war and the arts at the foot and head of the casket. Decorating the coffin lid is a scene depicting the Angel of Death bordered by the faces of children crying or laughing.
It was sold for $365,000 at auction in New York by Sotheby’s.
Click here for the full article.
Click here to see my recent article “Arabs Confirm Jerusalem’s Jewish Status” on The Times of Israel.
