The image executed with ceramic paints on porcelain is a copy of “Portrait of a Hasidic Boy” by the Austro-Hungarian artist Isidor Kaufmann. The painter was born into a Jewish family and made genre portraits of Jews in Eastern Europe at the turn of the 20th centuries his main theme. His most famous series of paintings focus on the lives of Polish Jews and Hasidic life. Hasidim, or “the pious”, are followers of the orthodox branch of Judaism, which is based on emotional comprehension of God and striving for unity with Him.

The portrait shows a Hasidic boy sitting half-turned on a chair. On the reverse side of the porcelain plate is a text with a fragment of the Seven Blessings, which are part of the canon of the wedding ceremony. The lettering is wobbly, possibly indicating that the text was copied blindly by someone who did not know the language:

The porcelain plaque with the portrait is set in a massive wooden frame decorated with carvings and decorative details. The outer perimeter of the frame is decorated as an architectural portal — with two side columns and a semicircular pediment. The columns are decorated with carvings, applications and mother-of-pearl. On the bone plates there are images of iconic biblical figures. Moses was a Jewish prophet, the founder of Judaism, the guide of the Jews in the great Exodus from Ancient Egypt. Aaron was Moses’ elder brother who joined him in liberating the Jews from the Egyptian slavery, and was the first Jewish priest.

In the arch of the portal is a heraldic image with a crown, a coat of arms and two hands, the blessing gesture of the kohens, the priests in Judaism. On the bases of the columns there are bone plates depicting griffins, symbols of light and power. The porcelain plaque bears the stamp of the manufacturer, Porcelain Manufactory in Sitzendorf, Germany. Founded in 1845, the manufactory exported its goods extensively throughout the world.