Lot 5
Illustrated Esther Scroll – Coat of Arms of the Henriques-Pimentel Family – The Netherlands, Late 18th or Early 19th Century
Illustrated Esther scroll, with the coat of arms of the Henriques-Pimentel family. [The Netherlands, late 18th or early 19th century].
Ink on parchment; wood, turned.
5 membranes, 27 columns, 19 lines per column; Sephardic script. Wooden roller with decorative finial. The text of the megillah is framed in engraving-like hand-drawn borders. The columns are separated by architectural pillars with scrolling tendrils and leaves. At the foot of each column, a miniature narrative scene from the Book of Esther, set in a decorative cartouche. Some of the scenes appear to be inspired by the illustrations decorating the engraved Megillah printed in Venice (designed by Griselini, first half of the 18th century).
Water jugs are depicted on the pillar pedestals and above the text columns. This motif generally testified to the family's pedigree as Levites. In this case, the water jug motif, together with a large part of the decorative elements surrounding it, was most likely borrowed from book title pages (a very similar decoration is found in books printed by Naftali Hertz Levi Rofe, active in Amsterdam in 1726-1766).
On the first and last membranes, coat of arms of the Spanish Pimentel noble family, adopted by the Henriques Pimentel family (descendants of the family) as their own coat of arms, with the permit of the King of Spain. The patriarch of the Henriques Pimentel family, Manuel-Yitzchak Henriques-Pimentel (b. 1657) immigrated with his parents as a young boy from Malaga, Spain to Amsterdam, where he returned to openly practicing Judaism.
Height of parchment: approx. 20 cm. Height of roller: approx. 38 cm. Good condition. Stains to parchment. Minor worming. First membrane trimmed close to decorative border. Chips and blemishes to roller.
