Decorated paper ketubah, for the wedding of Moshe Presiado son of Shabtai Avtalyon and Reicha daughter of Avraham Alkalai. Rustchuk (Ruse, Bulgaria), 1st Elul 5608 [30 August 1848].
Ink and paint on paper.
Written on a large rectangular paper sheet, with upper edges cut in an undulating wave pattern with sharp points. The text is written in two columns, with the ketubah text on the right and the Tena'im on the left, in Sephardic cursive script. Beneath the text, at the outer edges of the ketubah and Tena'im are the signatures of the witnesses: Shlomo Ventura and Shmuel Ben Didi (?) HaLevi. At the end of the Tena'im appears the dowry, signed by Avraham Melamed of Rustchuk.
The ketubah text and Tena'im appear within two large arched frames, with gilt blessings inscribed at the top. Around the arches is a large frame decorated with rich vegetal patterns against a pink background, with a large circular medallion at the top, enclosing a large flower in its center against a background of geometrical guilloches, as seen in the decorations of other Sephardic ketubot from the Ottoman Empire.
51X67.5 cm. Overall good condition. Slight stains and creases. Open tear to upper border and minor tears to edges, professionally restored. Old folding marks, slightly affecting text and decorations. Slight fading of paint.
This ketubah is also documented on the NLI ketubah site, listing 990003035440205171; only one other ketubah from 19th-century Ruse is recorded.
