Decorated parchment ketubah, for the wedding of Moshe Yaakov son of Menachem Foa (Foà) and Sarah daughter of Yitzchak Noveira of Verona. Genoa, Italy, 9 Sivan 5511 [June 2, 1751].

Ink and paint on parchment.

Written on a large parchment sheet, with its upper edge distinctively shaped in an architectural triangular form. The text is written in two columns, with the ketubah on the right in square script, and the Tena'im on the left in cursive script. On the margins of the ketubah and Tena'im are the signatures of the bridegroom ("I, Moshe Yaakov Foa, the bridegroom, affirm and certify as above") and the witnesses: Yitzchak son of Gershon Kohen Rapa and Yitzchak son of Meshulam Zalman Pincherle.

Richly decorated, with a symmetric composition of Rococo motifs (sea shells, rocailles and acanthus leaves), and high-quality illustrations of birds, grapevines and guilloches, tastefully colored in various shades. The ketubah is headed by the verse "In the name of the Lord, eternal G-d" (Bereshit 21:33), below which appears the blessing "with an auspicious sign and good luck", and around the text of the ketubah appear verses from the Book of Ruth (4:11-12).

The cartouche heading the ketubah bears two family coats of arms: on the right – two lions leaning against a tower – the coat of arms of the bride's family, Noveira (also spelled Nojera, Novera, Noveira or Navarro); and on the left – two lions leaning against a palm tree topped by a Star of David – the coat of arms of the groom's family, Foa, which is also used extensively on many books printed by members of the family. At the time the present ketubah was written, only three Jewish families were permitted to reside in Genoa, among them the Foa family.

The NLI ketubot website records only 13 ketubot from Genoa, just three of which are dated to the 18th century, the present ketubah being the third (the previous ones: 1702 – incomplete and undecorated; and 1749).

85.5X54 cm. Overall good condition. Stains, some dark. Marginal dampstains. Minor tears, mainly to margins, professionally restored, with parchment repairs.

For coats of arms of the Nuveira and Foa families, see: Elvio Giuditta, Araldica Ebraica in Italia. [Turin]: Società Italiana di Studi Araldici, 2007, pp. 74, 214.

This ketubah is documented on the NLI Ketubot website, listing 990001347230205171.

Provenance:

• Collection of David Solomon Sassoon (1880-1942). Documented in Ohel David, a Descriptive Catalogue of the Hebrew and Samaritan Manuscripts in the Sassoon Library, London, 1932, II, No. 933, pp. 980-981.

• Sotheby's, Zurich, November 21, 1978, A Further Thirty-Three Highly Important Hebrew and Samaritan Manuscripts from the collection formed by the Late David Solomon Sassoon, Lot 18.