Auction 101 Part 1 Special Auction: Ketubot | Megillot | Haggadot | Books | Jewish Ceremonial Art
Feb 17, 2025
Displaying 25 - 36 of 36
Auction 101 Part 1 Special Auction: Ketubot | Megillot | Haggadot | Books | Jewish Ceremonial Art
Feb 17, 2025
Opening: $35,000
Estimate: $60,000 - $80,000
Sold for: $45,000
Including buyer's premium
Decorated ketubah, made of a parchment cut, for the wedding of Eliyahu, son of Moshe Ashkenazi Fonseca and Esther, daughter of Eliyahu son of Avraham Ashkenazi. Venice, Italy, 14 Nisan 5560 [April 9, 1800].
Parchment cut. Ink and paint.
Written on a large parchment sheet, its upper edge elegantly shaped in an undulating pattern. The text of the ketubah appears in the center, in square letters, below which appear the Tena'im in cursive script. In the margins of the ketubah and Tena'im appear the signatures of the groom and two witnesses, in Latin characters: "Elia Aboaf Fonseca qm. [quondam] Moise, Abram Jona, Jona Semazia".
Decorated in a symmetrical pattern, in bright colors, masterfully trimmed into figurative and typographic images; the text of the ketubah is surrounded by illustrations of vegetables and flowers, drawn on the parchment sheet, incorporating thirteen round medallions meticulously cut into figurative images: the top central medallion depicts the scene of the Binding of Isaac, along with a Biblical verse from the scene, while the other medallions depict the twelve signs of the zodiac.
The top part incorporates a typographical parchment cut with the blessing "with an auspicious sign and good luck" in gilt letters cut over a red lace background in a vegetal pattern, while the outer margins, surrounding the ketubah document, integrate a typographical parchment cut yet more delicate, including verses from the Book of Ruth (4:11-12) in red letters cut over a golden parchment cut background.
A few known ketubot are decorated with parchment cutting, including ketubot from Lugo (see Lot 23 of this catalogue) and Ancona, but not from Venice.
92.5X 67.5 cm. Overall good condition. Stains and creases, mainly to margins. Marginal tears, some with pieces of parchment missing, professionally restored, generally not affecting parchment cut.
For more ketubot with parchment cut decorations, see: Ebrei a Lugo, I Contratti Matrimoniali (Imola: Galeati, 1994); René Braginsky Collection, K96, K105; Sotheby's, New York, April 29, 2013 (the Steinhardt Collection), Lot Nos. 101-102.
Catalogue
Auction 101 Part 1 Special Auction: Ketubot | Megillot | Haggadot | Books | Jewish Ceremonial Art
Feb 17, 2025
Opening: $15,000
Estimate: $20,000 - $25,000
Sold for: $20,000
Including buyer's premium
Decorated parchment ketubah, for the wedding of Shmuel Chaim son of Yitzchak Shlomo Leblin and Simchah Malkah daughter of Refael Yehudah Yaakov Treves. Vercelli, Italy, 4 Sivan 5560 [May 28, 1800].
Ink and paint on parchment.
Written on a rectangular sheet of parchment. The text of ketubah appears in the center, inside an arched frame, written in square script, followed by the signatures of two witnesses in cursive Italian script: Chizkiyah Yechiel Chaim (son of Menachem Tzion) Treves and Yehoshua Bentzion (son of Binyamin) Segre (on the right) and the signature of the groom (on the left).
Very richly decorated in Rococo style (although dating to several decades after this style's prime), and densely filled with illustrations of rocailles and acanthus leaves, stylized cartouches, sea shells, putti (cherubs), flowers and birds, drawn on a yellowish-gold background. The six cartouches appearing in the margins include putti and figures donning ribbons, portrayed dancing and eating fruits; in total no fewer than 18 putti are depicted. In the cartouches at the top and bottom of the ketubah appear family coats of arms (apparently those of the bride and groom): above is a tower topped by a blackbird, and below are two lions leaning against a palm tree.
The groom's name, Shmuel Chaim Leblin, and names of several family members, appear in various documents from the Piedmont region, and his own signature appears as a witness on several ketubot from the Casale Monferrato region.
The two witnesses who signed the ketubah served as rabbis in Vercelli: R. Chizkiyah Yechiel Chaim Treves served as Rabbi of Vercelli and hosted the Chida (who mentions him in his Maagal Tov); R. Yehoshua Segre (1709-1797) was an Italian rabbi, poet and kabbalist who authored many books, served as dayan and rabbi in Scandiano, Vercelli and Casale Monferrato (for further information on him, see: Kedem, Auction 77, Lot 268).
A color photograph of the ketubah was published in: Jay Weinstein, A Collectors' Guide to Judaica, London, 1985 – Plate 27.
57X50.5 cm. Fair-good condition. Stains, some dark stains, affecting text and decorations. Some tears and perforations, professionally restored. Creases and folding marks.
The NLI Ketubot website documents 13 ketubot from Vercelli, including a similar ketubah dated 1796, apparently illustrated by the same artist (listing 990003030900205171; private collection).
Catalogue
Auction 101 Part 1 Special Auction: Ketubot | Megillot | Haggadot | Books | Jewish Ceremonial Art
Feb 17, 2025
Opening: $5,000
Estimate: $8,000 - $10,000
Sold for: $10,000
Including buyer's premium
Decorated paper ketubah, for the wedding of Yehudah son of Simchah and Esther daughter of Yitzchak. "The Karaite community in Qirq Yer", Chufut-Kale, Crimean Peninsula, Ukraine, 4 Nisan 5589 [April 7, 1829].
Ink and paint on paper.
This ketubah is written on a large paper sheet, and reflects the unique customs and rite of the Karaite community of Chufut-Kale in the Crimean peninsula. The text is written in Hebrew (and not in the customary Aramaic), and divided into two parts – the ketubah on the top and the dowry on the bottom, with the signatures of no fewer than ten witnesses (the present document was signed by fifteen witnesses). The ketubah text prominently mentions "Emperor Nikolai Pavlovich I" (Tsar Nicholas I) and includes a commitment to the "covenant of Mount Sinai and the laws of Mount Horeb, to observe G-d's festivals, consecrated by observation of the moon and the presence of spring in the holy Land of Israel…".
Decorated with large flower decorations, high-quality and meticulously drawn, and a chain of golden disks in the bottom margins. The green frames separating the various parts of the ketubah are decorated in gold. In the outer frame, center and top of the ketubah appear verses of blessing in red ink (from Tehillim, Ruth and Bamidbar).
Chufut-Kale (Çufut Qale, English: Jewish Fortress) served as the center of Crimean Karaite Jewry until the end of the 19th century, when it was abandoned and became a ghost town. The city was an important location, since Crimean Jews were forbidden from living in the capital city until 1783, leading them to settle in the nearby Chufut-Kale. After the Crimean peninsula was captured by the Russian Empire and Karaites were allowed to settle throughout Crimea, the city was abandoned, becoming a ghost town in the early 20th century. Avraham Firkovich, the leader of the Eastern European Crimean community, was one of the last Karaites to live in the city.
76X54.5 cm. Overall good condition. Folding marks, slightly affecting text. Some stains, mainly to margins, slightly affecting text. Fading of gold paint. Minor tears, professionally restored. Margins professionally reinforced with acid-free paper to the back.
For further information and for comparison, see: Kedem, Auction 94, Part I (the Gross Family Collection), Lot 13; René Braginsky Collection, K54.
This ketubah is documented in the NLI Ketubot website, listing 990003035710205171.
Catalogue
Auction 101 Part 1 Special Auction: Ketubot | Megillot | Haggadot | Books | Jewish Ceremonial Art
Feb 17, 2025
Opening: $5,000
Estimate: $6,000 - $8,000
Sold for: $6,250
Including buyer's premium
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.
Catalogue
Auction 101 Part 1 Special Auction: Ketubot | Megillot | Haggadot | Books | Jewish Ceremonial Art
Feb 17, 2025
Opening: $2,000
Estimate: $4,000 - $6,000
Sold for: $3,750
Including buyer's premium
Decorated parchment ketubah, for the wedding of Yochanan son of Aharon de Avila and Rosa daughter of Shabtai. Cairo, Egypt ("Cairo, next to Fustat, Egypt, on the Nile River"), 15 Kislev 5594 [November 27,1833].
Ink and paint on parchment.
Written on a parchment sheet, its upper edge shaped in a distinctive double-arched form crowned by a pointed finial. The text of the ketubah appears in the center in Sephardic cursive script, with some words emphasized in square script (the names of the bride and groom, the dowry and more), followed by the signatures of the witnesses: Yitzchak Shlomo Algazi on the right, and Yitzchak Suarez (?) on the left. In the center appears the signature of the groom in Latin script.
Decorated with folk illustrations, vegetal patterns in orange and green, and with a large central arch, containing verses of blessing also written in matching colors.
Decorated parchment ketubot from Cairo have been documented from as early as the Middle Ages. Decorated parchment ketubot from the Modern period, however, are scarce, and many of those known ketubot are damaged or incomplete. The present ketubah is thus an uncommon exemplar of an Egyptian decorated parchment ketubah, preserved in good condition.
40.5X50 cm. Overall good condition. Several tears and some pieces of parchment missing, professionally restored. Stains, mainly to bottom part, slightly affecting decorations. Folding marks and stains.
For further information and for comparison, see: Shalom Sabar (2022), Vol. II, Nos. 295, 297 (KET 160, KET 294). For a similar ketubah on paper, see the NLI Ketubot website, listing 990003003770205171.
Catalogue
Auction 101 Part 1 Special Auction: Ketubot | Megillot | Haggadot | Books | Jewish Ceremonial Art
Feb 17, 2025
Opening: $2,500
Estimate: $4,000 - $6,000
Sold for: $4,000
Including buyer's premium
Decorated parchment ketubah, for the wedding of Ezra son of Yechezkel Chaim Avraham Gabbai and Rivkah daughter of Elisha Shalom Iraqi HaKohen. Calcutta, India, 9 Shevat 5641 [January 9, 1881].
Ink and paint on parchment.
Written on a rectangular parchment sheet. Blessings are written in square letters in the upper part, the ketubah text appears in the bottom part, in Sephardic cursive script, with words emphasized in square script (the names of the bride and groom, the dowry and more). The margins of the ketubah text contain the signatures of the groom (right) and the witness Shimon Refael Chaim Yitzchak (left).
Decorated in the characteristic style of the ketubot of the Baghdadi community in Calcutta: the frame is divided into two parts, with illustrations of peacocks and flowers in bright colors. The upper part features two pointed multifoil arches topped by a pair of lions holding a medallion. In the center is a panel separating the blessings and the ketubah text – a pair of fish drawn in silver, swimming towards each other.
70X40 cm. Overall good condition. Dark stain near bottom margins, on front and back.
This ketubah is documented on the NLI Ketubot website, listing 990003035770205171.
Catalogue
Auction 101 Part 1 Special Auction: Ketubot | Megillot | Haggadot | Books | Jewish Ceremonial Art
Feb 17, 2025
Opening: $4,000
Estimate: $6,000 - $8,000
Sold for: $6,250
Including buyer's premium
Decorated parchment ketubah, for the wedding of Moshe son of Yitzchak son of Yaakov Afriat and Simchah daughter of Dinar son of Yaakov son of Yamin Ochana. Essaouira (Mogador), Morocco, Thursday, 18 Adar II 5662 [March 27,1902].
Ink and paint on parchment.
Written on a large rectangular parchment sheet. The text of the ketubah appears in the center in Sephardic semi-cursive script, with a few words emphasized in square script. On the margins of the text appear the signatures of the groom ("Moïse Yitzchak Afriat") and witnesses – rabbis of Essaouira: R. Avraham Tzabach – head of the city's Beit Din, and two members of his Beit Din: R. Masud Knafo and R. Yehudah ibn Moyal. After the name of the groom, his lineage is traced for several generations up to a R. Yosef son of R. Ayush Almaliach, author of Tokpo Shel Yosef (Responsa Tokpo Shel Yosef by R. Yosef son of Ayush Almaliach was published in Livorno, 1823 and 1855).
Richly decorated by the artist and poet R. David Elkayam (Elkaïm; 1851-1941), who decorated many ketubot in Morocco in the late 19th century and first decades of the 20th century (signed in the bottom-left corner with his initials, "DE", and with an ink stamp). By contrast to many North African ketubot, which were decorated with motifs characteristic of the Islamic lands, R. David Elkayam adopted European motifs for his artwork, expressed in the present ketubah in the classic architectural pattern covering most of its area, curtain decorations and flower arrangements, as well as the initials of the bride and groom, appearing in the upper margins and recurring as a monogram in the bottom margins (MS).
Another unique characteristic of the present ketubah is the two coats of arms appearing in its upper part: the coat of arms of the United States of America (to the right) and the coat of arms of Austria-Hungary (to the left). These symbols allude to a notable historical phenomenon and the special status accorded to select Jewish families in Essaouira, who were called Tujjar al-Sultan – "the king's merchants": these families were selected by the Moroccan Sultan to develop and manage trade relations with Europe and the United States, and in return received many privileges, also serving as commercial consuls of various countries in Essaouira. The bride and groom's families – the Afriat and Ochana families – were among the socioeconomic elite of Essaouira's Jews, and apparently these coats of arms represent their commercial ties with the United States and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
72X57 cm. Overall good condition. Some stains, mainly to margins, slightly affecting text and illustrations. Creases. Damage to illustrations and part of text written in gilt and silver in upper decorations. Tears and light damage to margins, professionally restored.
For another ketubah from Essaouira decorated with the flag of the USA, and for information on various national symbols appearing on ketubot, see: Shalom Sabar, Mazal Tov: Illustrated Ketubot from the Israel Museum Collection (Jerusalem, 1993), No. 38; pp. 115-139 (Hebrew). For further information on R. David Elkayam (Elkaïm), see: Yosef Shitrit, R. David Elkaïm, Hebrew Poet in Morocco, Apiryon I (Spring 1983), pp. 96-102 (Hebrew); Shalom Sabar, "A Magnificent Ketubbah from Mogador, Morocco, 1898 – Illustrated by David Elkayyim", Brit XXV (2006), pp. 18-21 (Hebrew); for another ketubah decorated by R. David Elkayam, also documenting a wedding of the Afriat and Ochana families in Essaouira (1921), see: Kedem, Auction 48, Lot 6. See also: René Braginsky Collection, K86.
This ketubah is documented in the NLI Ketubot website, listing 990003035550205171.
Catalogue
Auction 101 Part 1 Special Auction: Ketubot | Megillot | Haggadot | Books | Jewish Ceremonial Art
Feb 17, 2025
Opening: $5,000
Estimate: $8,000 - $10,000
Sold for: $12,500
Including buyer's premium
Seder HaMohel, circumcision manual. Parchment manuscript, by the scribe Uri Feivelman, Sofer Stam. Altona, 1733 (dated on title page).
Small-format manuscript, in black ink on parchment. Written in Ashkenazic square, cursive and semi-cursive (Rashi) script. Illustrated title page, and several enlarged initial panels (words and letters), some with integrated miniature illustrations.
The manuscript includes instructions, blessings and prayers for the circumcision ceremony, based on the book Sod Hashem, first printed in Amsterdam, 1680.
The full name of the scribe is signed on title page:
"Written by Uri Feivelman, Sofer Stam of Altona" (Hebrew).
"Written by Uri Feivelman, Sofer Stam of Altona" (Hebrew).
On p. 18b, copying of Tehillim 12 (to be recited during the circumcision). At bottom of the page appears a colophon of the writer – R. Avraham Oppenheim, Rabbi of Aurich, Germany:
"So says the writer, Avraham son of the community leader and rabbi… R. Aharon Obbenheim [=Oppenheim], 12th Sivan 1733 in Aurich". On the next page is a copying of a piyyut for Shavuot, by the same writer, with the heading: "Shavuot 1733".
"So says the writer, Avraham son of the community leader and rabbi… R. Aharon Obbenheim [=Oppenheim], 12th Sivan 1733 in Aurich". On the next page is a copying of a piyyut for Shavuot, by the same writer, with the heading: "Shavuot 1733".
A similar manuscript to the present one (Seder Mohel, Altona, 1733) is found in the collection of the Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana, Ms. Rosenthaliana 409.
18, [1] parchment leaves + [2] blank parchment leaves, [17] blank paper leaves. 11.5X8 cm. Overall good condition. Minor stains, creases and blemishes. Contemporary leather binding, with engraved gilt decorations and marbled endpapers.
Catalogue
Auction 101 Part 1 Special Auction: Ketubot | Megillot | Haggadot | Books | Jewish Ceremonial Art
Feb 17, 2025
Opening: $5,000
Estimate: $8,000 - $10,000
Sold for: $17,500
Including buyer's premium
Torah, Neviim and Ketuvim. Paris: Robertus Stephanus, 1543-1546. Complete eight-volume set, in pocket format. Original leather bindings.
Each title page bears the Stephanus printer's device – an elderly man standing by a tree with several wilting branches and a banner that reads "Noli altum sapere" (Latin: Do not be proud). See: Yaari, Diglei HaMadpisim HaIvriyim, illustration 27 and p. 135.
Eight volumes. Volume I (Bereshit, Shemot, Vayikra): [146], [123], [88] leaves. Volume II (Bamidbar, Devarim): [122]; [107] leaves. Volume III (Yehoshua, Shoftim, Shmuel): [77], [73], [176] leaves. Volume IV (Melachim, Yeshayahu): [184], [131] leaves. Volume V (Yirmiyahu, Yechezkel): [168]; [144] leaves. Volume VI (Trei Asar, Tehillim): [117], [159] leaves. Volume VII (Mishlei, Job, Five Megillot): [53], [61], [80] leaves. Volume VIII (Daniel, Ezra and Nechemiah, Divrei HaYamim): [47], [30], [43], [183] leaves.
10.5 cm. Gilt edges. Light, high-quality paper. Good condition. Stains. Original leather bindings, with gilt decorations on spine. Damage to bindings. Binding boards loose and detached in several volumes. Spine of last volume repaired. Volumes placed in leather-covered case. Ownership stamps on all volumes, on verso of title page: monogram of the letters "A.R.", with a handwritten inscription: "1710".
Catalogue
![Silver binding for a machzor, decorated with a family coat of arms. [Rome, presumably first half of the 19th century].](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale101/34_1.jpg "Ornate Silver Binding Decorated with a Family Coat of Arms – Rome, 19t")
![Silver binding for a machzor, decorated with a family coat of arms. [Rome, presumably first half of the 19th century].](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale101/34_3.jpg "Ornate Silver Binding Decorated with a Family Coat of Arms – Rome, 19t")
![Silver binding for a machzor, decorated with a family coat of arms. [Rome, presumably first half of the 19th century].](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale101/34_4.jpg "Ornate Silver Binding Decorated with a Family Coat of Arms – Rome, 19t")
Auction 101 Part 1 Special Auction: Ketubot | Megillot | Haggadot | Books | Jewish Ceremonial Art
Feb 17, 2025
Opening: $10,000
Estimate: $12,000 - $18,000
Sold for: $12,500
Including buyer's premium
Silver binding for a machzor, decorated with a family coat of arms. [Rome, presumably first half of the 19th century].
Silver, repoussé, with the hallmark of Rome (in use since 1815) and blurred maker's mark (the letters "GV"? within a diamond); print on paper; wood and velvet cloth.
Elaborate silver binding, repoussé on both sides with identical patterns, in motifs characteristic of the 18th century (rocailles and acanthus leaves), and a large cartouche topped by a crown. The central cartouches prominently figure the family coats of arms – a rampant lion holding a branch with leaves – a symbol used in some variations among several Jewish families in Italy (including the Bondi family of Rome). A pair of smooth rectangular clasps (later) are included; the spine is decorated with flowers to match.
Book: Year-round Italian rite machzor, Part I. Venice: Bragadin, 1772.
59, 62-278, 278-281, [2] leaves. Lacking leaves 60-61. 16.5 cm. Overall good condition. Stains. Light wear. Small tears and open tears to margins of several leaves.
Silver binding: 17.5 cm, coating wooden boards with red velvet. Light damage to edges of silver binding, with minor open fracture. New clasps.
For a binding with a similar coat of arms, see: Sotheby's, New York, December 20, 2017, Lot 97.
Catalogue
![Silver binding for a machzor, decorated with the Ashkenazi-Tedeschi family coat of arms. [Presumably Rome, ca. 1850].
Silver,](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale101/35_4.jpg "Decorated Silver Binding with the Ashkenazi-Tedeschi Family Coat of Ar")
![Silver binding for a machzor, decorated with the Ashkenazi-Tedeschi family coat of arms. [Presumably Rome, ca. 1850].
Silver,](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale101/35_5.jpg "Decorated Silver Binding with the Ashkenazi-Tedeschi Family Coat of Ar")
![Silver binding for a machzor, decorated with the Ashkenazi-Tedeschi family coat of arms. [Presumably Rome, ca. 1850].
Silver,](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale101/35_6.jpg "Decorated Silver Binding with the Ashkenazi-Tedeschi Family Coat of Ar")
Auction 101 Part 1 Special Auction: Ketubot | Megillot | Haggadot | Books | Jewish Ceremonial Art
Feb 17, 2025
Opening: $10,000
Estimate: $12,000 - $18,000
Sold for: $13,750
Including buyer's premium
Silver binding for a machzor, decorated with the Ashkenazi-Tedeschi family coat of arms. [Presumably Rome, ca. 1850].
Silver, repoussé and engraved (unmarked; perhaps Rome, ca. 1850); print on paper; cardboard and leather.
Decorated silver binding, repoussé on both sides with identical symmetrical patterns, with decorations of leaves, flowers and a central cartouche topped by a crown. The cartouches prominently figure the family's coat of arms – a crouching lion with a seven-branched menorah on its back – the coat of arms of the Ashkenazi-Tedeschi family of Rome. This coat of arms also appears on an engraved stone tablet from 1621 (Jewish Museum of Rome, item 1727), and on an embroidered tablecloth from 1739-1740 (ibid., item 418). Matching pair of clasps; spine decorated to match, with flowers. Engraved initials "B.F" on lower margin of front binding.
Book: Machzor for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, according to the Sephardic rite of Constantinople and other locations, with prayers from the writings of the Arizal. Livorno: Shlomo Belforte and associate, 1850. Two parts in one volume.
Rosh Hashanah: 114 leaves. Yom Kippur: 192, [2] leaves. 17.5 cm. Gilt edges. Good condition. Stains, many stains to some leaves.
Silver binding: 18.5 cm, overall good condition, with light cracks near hinges; placed in original cardboard case with removable lid, 19 cm, coated in green leather and marbled paper, with gilt decorations; inscribed with initials "B.F".
For a similar binding, see: Jewish Museum of Rome, item 2469 (Consacrati al Signore, Argenti del Museo Ebraico di Roma, edited by Dora Liscia Bemporad and Davide Spagnoletto, Sillabe, Livorno, 2024, p. 278, No. XI.10; see also p. 70). For the family coat of arms, see: Elvio Giuditta, Araldica Ebraica in Italia. [Torino]: Società Italiana di Studi Araldici, 2007, p. 161.
Catalogue
Auction 101 Part 1 Special Auction: Ketubot | Megillot | Haggadot | Books | Jewish Ceremonial Art
Feb 17, 2025
Opening: $20,000
Estimate: $30,000 - $40,000
Sold for: $35,000
Including buyer's premium
Elaborate silver binding, for a year-round machzor according to the Ashkenazic rite, engraved with a verse from Tehillim. Venice, first half of 18th century.
Silver, repoussé, engraved and soldered; spiral silver threads; clasps with blurred hallmark of Venice (the Lion of St. Mark [San Marco]) and maker's mark "C.L." (attributed to the silversmith Carlo Lipari, active 1712-1740; or to silversmith Carlo Lonigi, active 1720-1740); binding with assayer's mark of Zuanne Premuda (1712-1749; a bird flanked by the letters "ZP"); print on paper; cardboard.
Elegant binding, dating to the first half of the 18th century, decorated identically on both sides, with an impressive high relief, with rich vegetal patterns including flowers and fruits, rocailles and acanthus leaves in Rococo style.
The central cartouche of the front binding features an engraved verse from the book of Tehillim, alluding to the devotional use of the machzor: "The Lord is near / to all who call Him / to all who call Him / with sincerity" (Tehillim 145:18); the cartouche on the reverse side is blank. Spine decorated to match, with vegetal patterns and diamond shapes, and a pair of styled clasps decorated with matching patterns.
Several silver Judaica items were produced by the silversmith who signed with the initials "C.L.", including two elaborate sets of a Torah crown and finials (one set is kept in the collection of the Jewish community of Florence, and the other in the Jeselsohn Collection in Zürich, formerly of the Steinhardt Collection), as well as a spice container (sold by Bonhams, London, November 21, 2007, Lot 186).
Book: Year-round machzor, according to the Ashkenazic rite, Part II. Venice: Bragadin, 1756.
204, [2], 205-476 leaves. Leaves 473-476 appear twice. 16.5 cm. Good condition. Stains. Tear to one leaf, repaired with paper, partially covering text. Close trimming, slightly affecting text on several leaves. Trimmed signature at top of title page. Signature on endpaper: "Laura Trieste". Original bookmarks.
Silver binding: 17 cm, cracks to silver in the cartouche in center of the reverse side.
For more information on the maker's and assayer's marks, see: Donaver-Dabbene, Argenti italiani del Settecento (2000), Nos. 466 and 412.
Catalogue
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