Decorated parchment ketubah, for the wedding of Yehoshua Avraham son of Refael Chaim Canton and Esther daughter of Moshe Chaim Sullam. Mantua, Italy, 10 Kislev 5516 [November 14, 1755].
Ink and paint on parchment.
Written on a large rectangular parchment sheet, its upper margin elegantly shaped in an undulating pattern. The ketubah text appears in the center, in square letters, with the witnesses' signatures on the margins: "Aharon son of R. Yosef Baruch Cases the physician" (R. Aharon Cases, a rabbi of Mantua) and "Yaakov son of R. Simchah Yehudah Saraval" (R. Yaakov Saraval, a rabbi of the Great Yeshiva of Venice, and from 1752 rabbi in Mantua).
The decorated frame is divided into two parts: the upper third features a golden guilloche captioned "My beloved is a bundle of myrrh to me" (Shir HaShirim 1:13), surrounded by rich illustrations in vegetal patterns, with a pair of flower vases, a pair of birds standing on branches, verses of blessing and a pair of angels holding medallions with the family coats of arms of the bride and groom: to the right is the coat of arms of the groom's family, Canton (Cantoni) – a deer resting beside a fruit tree, and to the left is the coat of arms of the bride's family, Sullam – a ladder placed on the ground, with angels climbing on it.
The bottom two thirds contain a repeating pattern of leaves and flowers, incorporating the twelve signs of the zodiac, and in the four corners – inside round medallions – appear four allegorical depictions of the seasons: the wheat harvest (summer), a man warming up beside an oven (winter), a woman standing between flowers (spring) and the grape harvest (fall). The margins of the ketubah incorporate verses of blessing from the Book of Ruth.
The array of designs in this ketubah was very popular in the 18th century, and it is repeated in many Italian ketubot of the period.
84X59.5 cm. Fair-good condition. Stains, some dark, and moisture damage, affecting text and illustrations. Stains to verso. Marginal tears and some missing pieces of parchment, professionally restored.
For further information and for similar ketubot, see: Shalom Sabar (2022), Vol. I, Nos. 29 (KET 49) and 36 (KET 1). For the family coats of arms, see: Elvio Giuditta, Araldica Ebraica in Italia. [Turin]: Società Italiana di Studi Araldici, 2007, pp. 96, 208.
