Decorated parchment ketubah, for the wedding of Shlomo son of Avraham HaLevi (son of Yaakov HaLevi son of Yitzchak HaLevi) and Zahra daughter of Shlomo (son of Shmuel) Ben Zimra. Gibraltar, 5 Adar II 5592 [March 7, 1832].
Ink and paint on parchment.
Written on a particularly large rectangular parchment sheet. The ketubah text appears in the center in Sephardic semi-cursive script. On the margins of the text appear the signatures of the groom (in the center) and the witnesses: R. Tzvi son of R. Michael Luria Ashkenazi and R. Shalem Aflalo (both Gibraltar rabbis). The text follows the custom of Shepardic families expelled from Spain and includes a prayer that G-d show his mercy and protect and preserve "the exiled from Castile".
Although this ketubah documents the marriage of a North African couple of Sephardic heritage, its artistic style reflects a distinctly European influence, appropriate to the geography of Gibraltar, lying between Europe and North Africa (and under British rule at the time). Its artistic style and unusual size are both departures from those of most known ketubot from Gibraltar (which are usually decorated with branches and flower arrangements).
70.5X79.5 cm. Fair-good condition. Stains, some dark and large. Some dampstains, slightly affecting text. Some creases and light damage to margins, professionally restored.
For further information and for comparison, see: René Braginsky Collection, K21, K26; Kedem, Auction 94, Part I (the Gross Family Collection), Lot 8.
For more ketubot decorated in a similar style, see Lots 14 and 31 of the present catalogue.
