Auction 88 - Part I - Books, Manuscripts, Rabbinical Letters, Ceremonial Art
Pair of Torah finials. Algeria, [19th century].
Silver, cast, pierced and engraved (not marked).
Algerian finials in a design influenced by Italian tower-shaped finials. Two-tier hexagonal, openwork body in a foliate design, with openings for bells. Pillar-like ornaments soldered to each edge; three removable ornaments at the top and bottom of each tier. Each finial is surmounted by a dome engraved with foliate designs, topped with a budlike apex. Two knops with engraved foliate designs at the base of each finial. Short cylindrical staves.
Height: 40 cm. Fair-good condition. Minor bends and breaks. Loose joints. Missing all bells. Patina.
Ceremonial Objects from the Collection of an Algerian Family
Algerian Jewry, one of the oldest and largest Jewish communities in Islamic countries, numbered at its peak some 130,000 Jews, most of whom left when Algeria gained its independence in 1962. The vast majority of Algerian Jews immigrated to France, while others moved to Israel.
Items 288-296 originate from the private collection of a rabbinic family in Western Algeria. Some of the items were found abandoned in Algerian synagogues following the mass exodus of its Jews, and were collected by the members of this family, whose descendants immigrated to France, and later to Israel.
Silver Hallmarks in French Algeria
Algeria, which was under French control from 1830 to 1962, became subject to French laws of silver crafting and silver hallmarks from 1838 (see: Tardy, pp. 29-30; 197-200).
Some of the silver items in the present collection bear French hallmarks, which for the most part appear to have been stamped by Algerian silversmiths or assayers in Algeria, already in the 19th century. Nonetheless, some items seem to have been produced in France, and stamped there before their import to Algeria.
The strong French connection along with the cultural diversity of Algerian Jewry (which comprises Jewish immigrants from Spain, Morocco, Italy and France), are well reflected in the present items, to the point that it is sometimes difficult to pinpoint whether, for instance, an item was produced in the workshop of a Jewish silversmith from Algeria, from Spanish Morocco, from the community of Tétouan Jews living in Oran (Algeria), from Libya or from France. Likewise, in some cases it is difficult to discern conclusively whether a specific item was marked before it was brought from France to Algeria during the 19th or early 20th century, after it was brought into Algeria, or perhaps decades later, when it was brought back to France during the 1960s.
We are grateful to Chaya Benjamin and Prof. Shalom Sabar for their assistance in cataloguing these items.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Two Torah finials (not a pair). Algeria / Libya, [19th century].
Silver, cast, pierced and engraved.
The two finials don't form a pair, but share the same design.
Each finial is topped with a dome, surmounted by a stylized ornament. Three-tier, hexagonal openwork body, with alternate foliate and menorah forms; arched openings in middle tier with hooks for bells (bells missing). Cylindrical staves topped with a bell-hung goblet.
1. Dedication engraved on the facets of the middle tier (Hebrew): "Silver finials donated by the brothers R. Yitzchak and R. David HaKohen in memory of their father R. Yosef HaKohen, by the artist Shalom Djian". The year of production is also engraved on the shaft: 1868. Marked with tiny French hallmark (not identified). The finial or silversmith may originate from Libya. Height: 35 cm. Good condition. Lacking bells.
2. Dedication engraved on the facets of the lower tier: "Silver finials donated by Yosef Porat in memory of his mother". With tiny French hallmarks (initials CD within diamond – maker's or assayer's mark). Height: 38 cm. Good condition. Missing bells.
Ceremonial Objects from the Collection of an Algerian Family
Algerian Jewry, one of the oldest and largest Jewish communities in Islamic countries, numbered at its peak some 130,000 Jews, most of whom left when Algeria gained its independence in 1962. The vast majority of Algerian Jews immigrated to France, while others moved to Israel.
Items (items 288-296) originate from the private collection of a rabbinic family in Western Algeria. Some of the items were found abandoned in Algerian synagogues following the mass exodus of its Jews, and were collected by the members of this family, whose descendants immigrated to France, and later to Israel.
Silver Hallmarks in French Algeria
Algeria, which was under French control from 1830 to 1962, became subject to French laws of silver crafting and silver hallmarks from 1838 (see: Tardy, pp. 29-30; 197-200).
Some of the silver items in the present collection bear French hallmarks, which for the most part appear to have been stamped by Algerian silversmiths or assayers in Algeria, already in the 19th century. Nonetheless, some items seem to have been produced in France, and stamped there before their import to Algeria.
The strong French connection along with the cultural diversity of Algerian Jewry (which comprises Jewish immigrants from Spain, Morocco, Italy and France), are well reflected in the present items, to the point that it is sometimes difficult to pinpoint whether, for instance, an item was produced in the workshop of a Jewish silversmith from Algeria, from Spanish Morocco, from the community of Tétouan Jews living in Oran (Algeria), from Libya or from France. Likewise, in some cases it is difficult to discern conclusively whether a specific item was marked before it was brought from France to Algeria during the 19th or early 20th century, after it was brought into Algeria, or perhaps decades later, when it was brought back to France during the 1960s.
We are grateful to Chaya Benjamin and Prof. Shalom Sabar for their assistance in cataloguing these items.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Necklace of amulets to protect a pregnant woman and her child. Iranian Kurdistan or Iran, [late 19th or early 20th century].
Silver, cast and engraved; blue and red ceramic beads; seashell; bells.
Necklace for protection of a pregnant woman and her child. Includes large, round pendant with names of G-d; two doll-like pendants (baby figure constructed from colored beads and seashell); two triangular pendants; two cylindrical pendants (amulet cases); and bells.
Length: 40 cm.
References: Jews of Kurdistan: Lifestyle, Tradition, and Art, p. 182; Feuchtwanger Collection, item nos. 819, 823; Jewish Life in Art and Tradition, pp. 66, 71.
Provenance: The Willi Lindwer Collection.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Jam-tas, silver drinking bowl depicting the holy places and a Star of David. [Afghanistan], 1936.
Silver, engraved.
Shallow drinking bowl of the Jewish-Afghan tradition, with the inside densely engraved with decorative patterns: Star of David containing the words "shield of Zion" (Hebrew), surrounded by ogee arches depicting animals, vases, a schematic image of the Western Wall and a domed structure (possibly representing the Dome of the Rock). Dedicatory text (Hebrew): "May you be granted many pleasant years of life and be glad with Jerusalem, may it be built and established; Malkiel son of Shmuel Abramof, born 5 Cheshvan 5677". Four small cartouches at edge contain each one letter of the date – 5696 (1936). The outside is engraved with birds.
Such drinking bowls, like other household items, were often given as a wedding gift and inscribed with the groom's name and date of birth.
Reference: Zohar Hanegbi and Bracha Yaniv, Afghanistan, The Synagogue and the Jewish Home. Center for Jewish Art and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1991. Pp. 40-41. Item nos. 72-74.
Diameter: 9 cm. Good condition.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Elegant silver filigree Esther scroll case. [Israel, second half of the 20th century].
Cylindrical case, depicting a flower and a lion, reading "scroll of Esther" (Hebrew). Surmounted with a crown set with a light blue stone. Heart-shaped pull piece handle.
Overall length: 31 cm. Good condition.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Elegant Hanukkah lamp, depicting the Tablets of the Law and a seven-branched lamp. Israel, [second half of the 20th century].
Silver (marked "Bezalel Jeruslaem 935"), filigree.
Scalloped backplate, depicting a seven-branched lamp and the Tablets of the Law on top of Mount Sinai, reading "These lights are sacred" (from one of the liturgical poems read while lighting the Hannukah lamp). Removable servant light set to right. Removable font row. The front reads the rest of the verse quoted on the backplate: "And we are not permitted to make ordinary use of them".
Height: 23 cm. Width: 23 cm. Good condition.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Large tower-shaped spice box. [Israel, second half of the 20th century].
Silver, filigree.
Large, elegant spice box. Extraordinarily intricate filigree work. Square foot, with four hemispherical feet. Square body, with door set in one side, hung with bells and flying four flags; topped with an octagonal onion dome, surmounted in turn with two filigree globules and flag.
Height: 35 cm. Good condition. Foot loose and somewhat bent.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Large elegant silver filigree spice box, designed as a domed structure. Israel, [second half of the 20th century].
Silver (marked "Bezalel Jerusalem 935"), filigree.
Large box, on four elegant feet. Door at front, with three stairs leading up to it, reading "who creates the various spices" (Hebrew, from the blessing over fragrances). The sides feature each a stylized balcony; the back depicts a seven-branched lamp. The dome is set with a dark-red stone at top.
Approx. 8X10X14 cm. Good condition.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Large, handsome etrog container. [Israel, second half of the 20th century].
Silver, filigree.
Rectangular box with four stylized feet, the sides depicting the Tablets of the Law, the Western Wall, the Tomb of Rachel and a seven-branched lamp. The lid depicts a sukkah and an etrog, surrounded by the inscription "And you shall take for yourselves on the first day, the fruit of the hadar tree, date palm fronds" (Lev 23:40).
Approx. 12X14X18 cm. Good condition.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.
Miniature wood model of the orthodox synagogue in Oradea, Romania, by Avaraham Raz (1917-1993?). [Israel, ca. late 20th century].
Oradea was home to a large, thriving Jewish community, whose members were highly active in the Hungarian press and Hebrew publishing, as well as avid Zionists. The community was led by famous rabbis and torah scholars, including Rabbi Israel Aharon Landsberg and Rabbi Moshe Tzvi Hirsch Fuchs, both students of the Chatam Sofer, and later Gaavad of the Eida HaCharedi, Rabbi Yaakov Yitzchak Weiss. During the second half of the 19th century, as part of the Schism in Hungarian Jewry, the community split into separate Neolog and Orthodox communities. The synagogue represented by this model was built in 1890 by the Orthodox community, and having survived the Nazi occupation and communist era, was renovated and reinaugurated in 2017, since then serving the small local Jewish community.
Miniature synagogue models created by artist Avraham Raz (Roizenmann) after photographs of the original structures were exhibited in the Wolfson Museum of Jewish Art.
Height: 28 cm. Base: 17X27 cm. Good condition.
PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.