Auction 79 - Judaica from the Finkelstein Family Collection
Cloth Bag Embroidered with Gold Thread – For a New Mother – Morocco
Opening: $2,500
Estimate: $3,000 - $5,000
Sold for: $3,125
Including buyer's premium
Large cloth bag for a new mother ("L'mara del-msebbek"). Morocco, probably Marrakesh, [early 20th century].
Goldwork embroidery on red velvet cloth; cotton.
Large rectangular bag, decorated on both sides in rich, gold metal thread embroidery. Name of new mother – "Rahel Sh. Peretz" – embroidered (in Hebrew) on front, at the top of a frame enclosing two pairs of rooster-like birds, scrolling tendrils, and at center, an eight-point star ("Rub el Hizb") ornament with a floral shape in the middle. Eight hamsa-like hand shapes embroidered on back. All these decorations bear a strong resemblance to those appearing on other Moroccan articles of Judaica, such as mezuzah covers and tallit (prayer shawl) bags.
Fringed tassels dangle from the sides of the pouch. Opening tightened with draw string.
The purpose of such pouches is not entirely clear; it may have differed from place to place. In all likelihood, it was used to hold gifts and baby clothes, or perhaps aromatic herbs, and was meant to be suspended from one of the posts of the bed of the new mother. Quite possibly, the recurrent theme of the number eight (as in the eight-point star and the number of hamsas) is an allusion to the eight days of circumcision and the circumcision ceremony. According to one theory, the pouch would be given as a gift to the mother by her husband – only upon her first birth – in a custom unique to the city of Marrakesh.
Length: 46 cm. Width: 34 cm. Few stains, minor wear and slight unraveling.
Reference: Aviva Müller-Lancet (ed.), "Jewish Life in Morocco, " exhibition catalogue, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, 2nd edition, 1983, p. 95.
Goldwork embroidery on red velvet cloth; cotton.
Large rectangular bag, decorated on both sides in rich, gold metal thread embroidery. Name of new mother – "Rahel Sh. Peretz" – embroidered (in Hebrew) on front, at the top of a frame enclosing two pairs of rooster-like birds, scrolling tendrils, and at center, an eight-point star ("Rub el Hizb") ornament with a floral shape in the middle. Eight hamsa-like hand shapes embroidered on back. All these decorations bear a strong resemblance to those appearing on other Moroccan articles of Judaica, such as mezuzah covers and tallit (prayer shawl) bags.
Fringed tassels dangle from the sides of the pouch. Opening tightened with draw string.
The purpose of such pouches is not entirely clear; it may have differed from place to place. In all likelihood, it was used to hold gifts and baby clothes, or perhaps aromatic herbs, and was meant to be suspended from one of the posts of the bed of the new mother. Quite possibly, the recurrent theme of the number eight (as in the eight-point star and the number of hamsas) is an allusion to the eight days of circumcision and the circumcision ceremony. According to one theory, the pouch would be given as a gift to the mother by her husband – only upon her first birth – in a custom unique to the city of Marrakesh.
Length: 46 cm. Width: 34 cm. Few stains, minor wear and slight unraveling.
Reference: Aviva Müller-Lancet (ed.), "Jewish Life in Morocco, " exhibition catalogue, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, 2nd edition, 1983, p. 95.