Pair of Torah Finials. Belgrade, Serbia, [early 19th century]; one of the finials bears a dedicatory inscription dated 5561 [1801].
Cast silver, repoussé, stamped, and engraved.
A rare early example of Torah finials from Belgrade, Serbia. Jewish sacred objects from Serbia are quite uncommon to begin with, and compared to other documented objects from Serbia – or from Belgrade in particular – it would appear the finials presented here represent an especially early and opulent example. Fashioned in a style familiar from the lands of the Ottoman Empire (most notably Greece, Istanbul, and Jerusalem, among other places); the body of each finial is in the form of two flattened spheres bearing recurrent vegetal patterns; the upper portion of each finial is conical, and surmounted by a small apical ornament. Six chains with bells at their ends dangle down from the middle of the body of each finial. Bodies supported by tall shafts.
Dedicatory inscriptions (Hebrew) are engraved on the upper portions of the bodies, at the bases of the conical ornaments: "Finials of the holy society of the holy congregation of Bielogrado, may the Lord protect her, Year 5561 [1801]" on one, and "Finials from the holy society of the holy congregation of Bielogrado, may the Lord protect her" on the other. The minor differences in the shape of the Hebrew letters and the wording of the respective inscriptions on the two finials attest to the likelihood that they were in fact engraved by different silversmiths, or perhaps at different times.

Height: approx. 44 cm. Good condition. The shafts of the finials and the small apical ornaments surmounting them may have been exchanged.

Provenance: The Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv, 050.001.107.
This pair of Torah finials is documented on the Center for Jewish Art (CJA) website, item no. 37161.