Ort Rug, Rhombus Pattern – The Ort Rug Weaving Workshop – Israel, Early 1950s

Ort Rug, Rhombus Pattern – The Ort Rug Weaving Workshop – Israel, Early 1950s
Small Ort rug, designed by Jacob Kantorowitz. [Israel, early 1950s.]
Wool knot-pile; cotton foundation.
Polychrome rhombus pattern with a geometric border. Signed ‘ORT’ (Hebrew and English) at bottom.
Ort rugs were made by the (mostly female) students at the rug weaving workshops run by the organization. The rugs were designed by Jacob Kantorowitz, who headed the program and taught its students. Kantorowitz is famous for heading the Bezalel rug weaving department and later the Marbadiah workshop run by Bezalel, and for designing most of the rugs created at Bezalel.
An article featured in ‘Dvar HaShavua’ (dated August 6th, 1953), which covered the Ort rug enterprise, is accompanied by a photograph of this very same rug, made by Carmela Yadin, Yigael Yadin's wife, as a present to her father-in-law, archeologist Eliezer Sukenik. An additional photograph shows Jacob Kantorowitz in the midst of the creation of the weave design of this rug.
Ort (which stands for ‘Общество Ремесленного Труда’ [Obshchestvo Remeslenava Truda], ‘Association for the Promotion of Skilled Trades’) was founded in 1880 in Russia. Its goal was to provide Jews with education and training in practical occupations such as handicrafts and agricultural skills, to enable them to earn a living. The organization ran schools and provided professional training throughout Europe, and continued operating even under German occupation. After the war, the organization set up vocational training centers in DP camps, allowing Holocaust survivors to acquire skills and rebuild their lives. The Israeli branch of Ort was founded in 1949.
66x48cm. Good condition. Minor damage; some damage to fringe.
Reference: Jewish Carpets, Anton Felton. Woodbridge: Antique Collectors' Club, 1997, p. 152.
Provenance: The Anton Felton Collection.