In recent years, there has been a huge increase in the demand among collectors for mid-century metal crafts and Judaica produced in Israel from around the time of Israel's independence (1948).  The most sought after items were produced by Pal-Bell Co. Ltd. of Tel Aviv from 1939 to 1956.  Here is a brief background on the company, its items, and its founder for the benefit of collectors and enthusiasts.    

 

In 1939 in Tel Aviv, Maurice Ascalon (formerly known as Moshe Klein) founded Pal-Bell Co. Ltd., with the mission of creating tasteful decorative and functional metalwork and Judaica of the highest quality.

 

From its founding in 1939, until 1956, Pal-Bell - a.k.a. Palbell - created scores of distinct brass and bronze items. Its wares ranged from decorative bowls, vases, pitchers, trivets and ashtrays, secular in motif, often Art Deco in style; to traditional styled, Judaic-theme commemorative plates, candle sticks, menorahs, bookends, figurines and more.

 

Maurice Ascalon, who received formal artistic training in Brussels and Milan, was also Pal-Bell's chief designer. Through Pall-Bell, Ascalon introduced the use of green patina to Israel's modern metal craft industry. The application of reactive chemicals to the raw bronze and brass gave many Pal-Bell items their unique "antique" verdigris appearance. This technique was later imitated by other Israeli metal craft companies, and the green patina style became a hallmark of 20th century Israeli metalware.

 

Pal-Bell's products were a favorite of tourists visiting the Holy Land, especially during the early 1950s, which saw the company's height of production. Pal-Bell also exported a large quantity of its items worldwide, primarily to the United States and Britain, where they were sold in select retail stores. Pal-Bell items were ubiquitous in the homes of Jewish families in America and abroad, and among the collections of visitors to the Holy Land everywhere.  Pal-Bell's two factories, located on the outskirts of Tel Aviv, towards Jaffa, employed as many as 100 people. Today, Pal-Bell originals are highly valued collectables among Art Deco, Judaica, metalware and tobacciana enthusiasts.

 

In 1948, during Israel's War for Independence, in order to assist Israel's efforts, Ascalon designed munitions and re-tooled the Pal-Bell factories to manufacture munitions and bomb detonators for Israel's armed forces.

 

In 1956, Maurice Ascalon relocated his family to the United States, where he eventually co-founded, with son David Ascalon, Ascalon Studios, an art and design studio specializing in worship spaces and public sculpture. In February 2003, Ascalon celebrated his 90th birthday as a resident of Curnavaca, Mexico. In August 2003, after a full life, Ascalon passed away as a result of complications after a long battle with Parkinson's Disease.  Today, Maurice Ascalon is viewed as among the greats of Art Deco design, and as the father of the modern Israeli crafts movement.

 

The vast majority of Pal-Bell's items contain one of two marks: either a block lettering stamped rectangle reading "Pal-Bell Co." above "Made in Israel", with Hebrew lettering below, or a oval with a stylized bell within, flanked by the words "Pal-Bell" on one side, and "Co. Ltd." on the other.  There are many items appearing on eBay that purport to be products of Pal-Bell, or which indicate "Pal-Bell style".  Unless an item has a bone fide Pal-Bell stamp, or unless it appears in one of the company's original catalogues, there is no way to be sure that it is an authentic Pal-Bell design.  Fortunately, images of the last preserved vintage Pal-Bell catalogues can be found online and on an online Pal-Bell Collectors Forum hosted by Yahoo! Groups.  

 

More information on Pal-Bell and the other manufactures of early Israeli metal crafts can be found in the book "Modern Creations from an Ancient Land: Metal Craft and Design in the First Two Decades of Israel's Independence" by Prof. Nurith Kenaan-Kedar of Tel Aviv University (ISBN: 9652172561) and the book "Lighting the Way to Freedom" by Aaron Ha'tell and Yaniv Ben Or (ISBN: 978-1932687668).