1918 Israel Mannesovitch Judaica Papercut
GUEST: I found it at a thrift store in Watertown, New York.
APPRAISER: A thrift store in Watertown.
GUEST: In Watertown.
APPRAISER: What did you like about it?
GUEST: I realized that it's the paper cutting, and it's very intricate.
APPRAISER: Okay.
GUEST: And it's got all the animals and the menorah.
APPRAISER: Mm-hmm, right.
GUEST: And the lady that did it, her name is down here somewhere.
APPRAISER: Okay.
GUEST: And I don't know if she put the city or not.
APPRAISER: Right.
GUEST: But it's dated.
APPRAISER: Okay, well, what did you pay for it?
GUEST: About five dollars.
APPRAISER: Five dollars.
GUEST: No more than ten.
APPRAISER: Okay. You know it's a paper cutout.
GUEST: Right.
APPRAISER: But I don't know if you knew that there was a tradition, a Jewish tradition…
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: ...of making these paper cutouts. The contrast of the colors is wonderful.
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: And right in the center is an American eagle with a shield.
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: So, patriotism.
GUEST: Right.
APPRAISER: American patriotism. So have you ever tried to figure out what this says? 'Cause this is a Hebrew word here.
GUEST: I haven't.
APPRAISER: This is the Hebrew word for "east."
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: And I, I believe it's pronounced "mizrach." In the Hebrew tradition, the, this would be placed on the east wall. So you have these two sentiments, one of great reverence for one's religion...
GUEST: Right.
APPRAISER: ...and great reverence for one's country. It's really great folk art.
GUEST: It is-- I loved it.
APPRAISER: It's also great Judaica.
GUEST: Yes.
APPRAISER: And you have a pretty good eye, you, 'cause you also bought something with the original frame...
GUEST: Right.
APPRAISER: ...and with the original backing...
GUEST: Yes.
APPRAISER: ...on it. I'm going to very carefully take this out. I, I've got it.
GUEST: Okay, mm.
APPRAISER: Gonna flip it over like this. And the cool thing is, you have "Albany, New York, Friday, August 16, 1918." So the war wouldn't be over for, till November. You have the original newspaper, and it's been preserved underneath the backboard all this time.
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: It's really like a time capsule, right?
GUEST: It is.
APPRAISER: Let's come back to the work. There's one more thing I-- I'd like to point out that this is the artist's name.
GUEST: Right.
APPRAISER: And I haven't been able to find this yet...
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: ...but there might be other works that this paper cutter has done.
GUEST: Oh, okay.
APPRAISER: There are several very famous Hebrew paper cutters, and the works by them bring a lot of money. So I can put a retail price on this.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: What do you think I'm going to say? Want--, do you want to guess?
GUEST: $200, or $2,000.
APPRAISER: $2,000, that's a good guess, okay. Multiply by ten.
GUEST: Do what?
APPRAISER: $20,000.
GUEST: Okay, great.
APPRAISER: Retail price. And that wouldn't be hard to achieve, it really wouldn't.
GUEST: Okay, sounds good.
APPRAISER: Not bad for...
GUEST: Not bad for a thrift store find.
$20,000 Retail
In January 2025, during the editing process for this episode, ANTIQUES ROADSHOW fact-checkers were able to identify Israel Mannesovitch as the artist who created this papercut. Online research revealed a similar papercut work that had sold at Sotheby’s in 2022. After reviewing Sotheby's piece himself, folk art appraiser Leigh Keno confirmed that Israel Mannesovitch was the artist whose piece he appraised at the Maryland Zoo event in Baltimore in June 2024.
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Understanding Our Appraisals
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Value can change: The value of an item is dependent upon many things, including the condition of the object itself, trends in the market for that kind of object, and the location where the item will be sold. These are just some of the reasons why the answer to the question "What's it worth?" is so often "It depends."
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