Decorated parchment ketubah, for the wedding of Avraham Yaakov son of Chizkiyah HaLevi and Sarah Simchah daughter of Moshe HaLevi. Chieri, Italy, 1 Sivan 5520 [May 16, 1760].

Ink and paint on parchment.

Written on a square parchment sheet. The ketubah text appears in the center in square script, with the signatures of the groom (left) and the witnesses (right) in the margin: Yitzchak son of Moshe Formiggini and Aryeh Yehudah son of Mahalalel Kohen.

Decorated with an architectural structure designed as a triumphal arch with three passageways, supported by four pillars. The two side arches and bottom margins contain illustrations in vegetal patterns, and the arch is topped by four flower vases on either side of a cartouche with the bride and groom's family coat of arms – a jug placed in a basin – under the caption "House of Levi, bless the Lord" (Tehillim 135:20). The blessing "How goodly and pleasant is the dwelling of brothers together" at the top of the arch has the letters Mem and Tet marked, as an allusion to the initials of Mazal Tov.

Chieri, near Turin, in the Piedmont region, was home to a small Jewish community from the 15th century onwards. In 1724 the community numbered a mere 70 members, and in the mid-19th century some 150 members; by the early 20th century it had already ceased to exist. A member of the Levi family, David Levi, served in the early 19th century as deputy mayor of Chieri (then under French rule) and as representative of Piedmont in the Paris Sanhedrin.

67.5X63 cm. Fair good condition. Creases. Stains, some dark, affecting text, paint and illustrations. Ink fading in some places. Tears and damage, professionally restored.

For further information, see: Shalom Sabar (2022), Vol. I, No. 5 (KET 260).

The NLI ketubot website records only three ketubot from Chieri (including the present ketubah, listing 990003035610205171).