Pictures of Old Jewish Family Life – series of ten original reproductions by Moritz Daniel Oppenheim – leading Jewish artist of the 19th century. First edition published in Frankfurt am Main by Heinrich Keller. 1866-1868. Including two pages of introduction (in German) by Leopold Stein. Very rare collection. Placed in a magnificent designated case. Bilder aus dem Altjudischen Familienleben, Photographieen nach Originalgemalden by Prof. M. Oppenheim – these reproductions are the only ones printed in the artist’s lifetime and with his close supervision! The pictures are each affixed to a large and elegant cardboard with an explanation in German and in English describing the German Jewish family and its customs (Shabbat, various holidays, religious and family ceremonies and more). From 1865 forward, Oppenheim worked on this series – pictures from the lives of Jews: family, at synagogue and in the Jewish neighborhoods; and at ceremonies such as bar mitzvahs, sermons, weddings, rabbinical blessings, and so forth. These paintings reflected the memories of his youth through a very romantic and sentimental lens, which depicted not the situation as it was but the imaginary past that Oppenheim sought to depict, protesting the prevailing negative stereotypes about ghetto Jews and their lives. The artist’s printer, Heinrich Keller of Frankfurt, asked Oppenheim to paint his pictures especially for him in shades of gray, a technique known as “Graysa, ” in order to photograph them using the “sepia” method, which was the only technique in the mid-19th century that allowed reproductions to be printed. The paintings were distributed in special black-and-white editions, and were displayed in the homes of many German Jews in the late nineteenth century. A total of twelve reproductions were published in Frankfurt. Six were published in 1866. Two large explanatory pages by Leopold Stein were attached to this first group. These leaves were printed in English and in German. This collection includes ten pictures from the two series that consist of a total of 12 drawings. They are accompanied by the two leaves with explanations in English, printed in Frankfurt in 1868. Refer to the Hebrew catalog text for a brief biography of Moritz Daniel Oppenheim . Specifications: The pictures are 22×18.5 cm, affixed to elegant cardboard 48×33 cm. Two pictures are affixed to slightly smaller cardboard. The pictures are placed in a designated red fabric case, redone by an artist, and integrated with the title page of the original binding. Case size: 48.5×34 cm. Very fine condition. Light tear in one cardboard. One picture has partially detached from its cardboard.