Moses Montefiore Mizrach
- Description
This scagliola tablet was part of a wall decoration in the estate of Moses Montefiore in Ramsgate. Montefiore was a prominent 19th century British Jewish leader and activist for worldwide Jewish causes.
It is designed as a mizrach, which indicates the direction of Jerusalem for prayer. Jerusalem and the Holy Land were at the centre of Montefiore’s interests. In 1841, by special licence from Queen Victoria, he added to his coat-of-arms a lion and a stag holding flags with the word ‘Jerusalem’ in Hebrew letters. They can be seen at the top of the tablet.
