Wolpert, Ludwig Y. (Ludwig Yehuda), 1900-1981

Ludwig Yehuda Wolpert was a sculptor and designer of Jewish ritual objects and was regarded as the first artist to integrate Hebrew lettering with silver ceremonial objects. He worked in a variety of materials in addition to silver-aluminum and other metals, glass, plastic, wood, and textiles.

Born in 1900 in Hildesheim, Germany, to a traditional Jewish family, Wolpert soon came to know and cherish his Jewish heritage. He developed an interest in art at an early age, and from 1916 until 1920, he studied sculpture in Frankfurt-am-Main's Kunstgewerbeschule, School for Arts and Crafts. After several years of independent work as a sculptor, he returned to the School of Arts and Crafts to study metalwork under a silversmith who had previously taught at the Bauhaus in Weimar, Leo Horowitz. It was then that Wolpert decided to devote himself to Jewish ceremonial art, applying the new trends of that time. In 1930 he created his first work with Hebrew lettering, a Passover plate for the Seder table, made from silver, ebony, and glass.

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