Auction 85 - Judaica: Books, Manuscripts, Rabbinical Letters, Ceremonial Art
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Torah shield. Austro-Hungary, late 19th / early 20th century.
Cast silver, repoussé and engraved. Marked: Diana's head and maker's mark – A•M (on verso, on cover of plaque compartment).
Decorated with large flowers and leaves. A pair of lions, langued, support the Tablets of the Law, surmounted with a large relief crown. With an opening designed to display interchangeable plaques (three plaques included; two are double-sided: "Yom Kippur" / "Rosh Hashanah"; "Pesach" / "Shavuot". The third plaque, which also serves as cover of the compartment, reads: "Chag HaSukkot"). Original chain.
Height: 38 cm, width: 30 cm.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Torah shield. Austro-Hungary (presumably Vienna), [early 20th century]. Dedicatory inscription dated 1936.
Cast silver, repoussé and engraved; appears to be unmarked.
Decorated with foliate designs. The center of the shield is occupied by a pair of lions, langued, supporting Tablets of the Law, surmounted with a curtain shaped ornament topped with a large crown with a bell. Under the opening of the plaque compartment, engraved dedicatory inscription from Charna daughter of Hendel, in memory of her husband Asher Ensel Steinfeld son of Shmuel, dated 1936. Original chains. Without interchangeable plaques and cover of plaque compartment.
Height: 35 cm, width: 28 cm.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Ornate wood and silver Torah scroll case, two pairs of silver Torah finials and two silver Torah pointers; two items with dedicatory inscriptions mentioning Rabbi Meir Moshe Hillel of the Iraqi Jewish community in India. India, late 19th century to mid-20th century (with dedicatory inscription from Israel, 1963).
1. Torah scroll case. India, 1890/91.
Wood; velvet; silver, pierced, cut and engraved; rivets.
Wooden case, covered with blue velvet. Graceful silver bands to lower and upper edges; silver latches. Two dedicatory silver shield-shaped plaques, one with dedication of Rabbi Meir Moshe Hillel in memory of his late mother, dated 5651 (1890/91). The other plaque, dated 1963, was added in Israel.
R. Meir Moshe Hillel, a Torah scholar of Baghdad, served also as Rabbi of the Jewish-Iraqi communities in Mumbai and Kolkata. A native of Baghdad, he studies under R. Abdallah Somekh and later moved to Mumbai, where his business flourished. His brother, R. Abraham Moshe Hillel (died 1920), was chief rabbi of Baghdad and grandfather of Kabbalist Rabbi Yaakov Moshe Hillel, head of the Ahavat Shalom Yeshiva in Jerusalem.
Height: 58 cm. Diameter: 28 cm. Good condition. Some damage. Heavy wear to velvet throughout.
2-3. Two pairs of Torah finials. [Cochin? Late 19th to early 20th century].
Silver, cast and engraved.
Small finials. Shafts with thick ring-like bands; onion dome-shaped body, hung with chains ending with hollow silver orbs. One shaft engraved with four Hebrew letters.
Height: 16 cm. Good condition. Missing chains and orbs. Bends.
4-5. Two Torah pointers. [India, first half of the 20th century].
Silver, cast and engraved.
Long pointers, half rectangular prism and half cylindrical. Both with stylized link to one edge. Engraved dedicatory inscription to one pointer by Rabbi Meir Moshe Hillel, dated 5681 (1920/21).
Length: 37 cm. Good condition. Some damage and bends.
Provenance: Sha'ar HaShamayim Bulgarian Synagogue, Haifa.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Small Ashkenazi Torah scroll, for children. [Israel, ca. mid-20th century].
Printed on paper; wood; aluminum.
Small Torah scroll wound on two wooden rollers ending in finials; velvet mantle with embroidered ornaments; small metal shield.
Height of paper: 23.5 cm. Height of rollers (including finials): 50 cm. Good condition. Stains and minor defects.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Chanukah lamp. Austro-Hungary, late 19th / early 20th century
Cast silver, repoussé and turned; remnants of gilding; marked: Diana's head and maker's mark: TD (Theodor Dörr?).
Occupying the center of the tall backplate is a pair of lions, langued, supporting the Tablets of the Law (blank), surrounded with foliate designs. Detachable row of oil fonts, designed as jugs. Detachable servant lamp.
Height: 27.5 cm, width: 25.5 cm. Overall good condition. Lacking screw and bolt. Minor corrosion.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Two oil lamps, for Sabbath and Chanukah (mesrejeh). Yemen, 19th or 20th century.
Soapstone (steatite), chiseled.
1. Oil lamp in the form of a nine-pointed star, with a knob in its center and remnants of a metal ring for suspension.
Maximum diameter: 21 cm. Good-fair condition. Some loss and damage. Missing metal ring.
2. Small lamp in the form of a thirteen-pointed star, with a knob in its center (indentation in the knob).
Maximum diameter: 15 cm. Minor damage and loss.
The mesrejeh lamps were used for both Sabbath and Chanukah. The knob in the center prevents the lamp from being considered an open fire.
Reference: Ester Muchawsky-Schnapper, "Oil Sabbath-lamps and Hanukah-lamps of stone from the Yemen", Journal of Jewish Art, vol. 9, 1982, pp. 76-83.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Two marble onyx Sabbath lamps (mesrejeh). Yemen, [19th century?].
Marble onyx, chiseled.
Two oil lamps shaped like round dishes with elevated, serrated rims and a knob at the center (the knob is meant for a metal ring, for carrying and suspension).
The marble onyx lamps, being somewhat translucent, diffuses a soft and dim light. When suspended from the ceiling, the stone looks as if lit from inside. This type of lamp was used also at various ceremonies, such as the henna-evening and the evening before circumcision.
Diameter: 20 cm; 19 cm. Fair-good condition. Some loss. Stains and much dirt from use. Missing metal rings.
Reference: Ester Muchawsky-Schnapper, "Oil Sabbath-lamps and Hanukah-lamps of stone from the Yemen", Journal of Jewish Art, vol. 9, 1982, pp. 76-83.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Soapstone (steatite), chiseled.
Boat-shaped single-wick oil lamp. The Yemenite rectangular eight-wick Hannukah lamp developed from joining lamps of the seraj type.
7.5X16 cm. Fair-good condition. Loss and damage.
Reference: Ester Muchawsky-Schnapper, "Oil Sabbath-lamps and Hanukah-lamps of stone from the Yemen", Journal of Jewish Art, vol. 9, 1982, pp. 76-83.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Stone, chiseled.
Unknown type. Boat-shaped body on a tall leg. Two notches opposite spout, perhaps for additional wicks.
Height: 15 cm. Length: 12 cm. Width: 7.5 cm. Good-fair condition. Loss and damage.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Passover Seder plate. Germany, late 19th century. ("1809" engraved on the base).
Silver; engraved.
The lip of the plate is decorated with geometric motifs. The well of the plate is filled with passages from the Haggadah, written in circular form – Ma Nishtana, Avadim Hayinu and Kadesh URechatz.
According to the owner's testimony, the plate originates from the estate of Dr. Eliezer Lipman (Leo) HaKohen Kahn (1842-1936), one of the founding pillars of German Orthodox Jewry. He was the first to receive governmental permission to found an independent Orthodox community in Wiesbaden, where he served as rabbi for sixty-six years.
Diameter: 37 cm. Good condition. Minor bends.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Large pewter Seder plate. [Germany, 18th or 19th century].
Pewter (marked), engraved.
Center engraved with a star, with vegetal pattern between its points, surrounded by the twelve signs of the zodiac. Lip engraved with the order of the Seder. Stylized medallion to rim, containing the letters "MW". Back engraved with Hebrew initials and the letter H.
Diameter: 42 cm. Good-fair condition. Wear to engraving. Bends. Minor loss.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Pewter Seder plate. Germany, 1803.
Pewter, engraved.
Center engraved with a two-headed eagle, emblem of the Holy Roman Empire until 1806, holding a sword in its left talon and stalk of flowers in its right talon, instead of the royal globus cruciger. The eagle is surrounded by Hebrew letters representing the year 5563; star of David to center of its body. Lip engraved with order of the Seder and two Hebrew letters.
Diameter: 30 cm. Good condition. Bends and some damage. Soldering repairs.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.