Torah crown. [Rhodes, Greece], dedication dated 1853.
Silver, sawed, pierced, engraved and soldered (unmarked; name of silversmith Demetrid (?) Cromida engraved on central bar).
Cylindrical crown decorated with repeating vegetal and wave patterns. Dedicatory inscription engraved on base:
"Gift to the Kahal Kadosh Gadol from Mrs. Perla de Shmuel Bin-Nun in memory of her son Rachamim who passed away 28th Av 5613 [1853]" (Hebrew). On interior base of crown, soldered silver bar with two openings for Torah scroll handles, with engraved inscription
"Lavoro Di Demetrid (?) Cromida 1858" [work of Demetrid/Demetrio Cromida 1858].
Torah crowns of this design were influenced by Italian Torah crowns (see previous lot) and were in use in the Ottoman Empire, Greece and the Balkans region. Its inscription, as well as its resemblance to another Torah crown in the Jewish Museum of New York collection (1992-94), indicate its origin in the Romaniote synagogue Kahal Kadosh Gadol, established in the late 15th century and inadvertently destroyed in a British bombing in 1944.
For comparison, see: Rafi Grafman, Crowning Glory: Silver Torah Ornaments of the Jewish Museum, New York (New York, 1996), no. 500 (illustrated on the cover) and no. 245.
Height: 17.5 cm. Diameter: 21.5 to 22.5 cm. Overall good condition. Fractures and minor defects to edges, with old corrections of soldering.
