Large decorated parchment ketubah, for the wedding of Yitzchak Refael son of Yehoshua Yehudah Amado and Joya daughter of Daniel de Chaves. Izmir, Ottoman Empire (today Turkey), 14th Shevat 5575 [January 25, 1815].

Ink and paint on parchment.

Richly-decorated ketubah, representing the early ketubah decorating tradition of Sephardic Jews in Izmir. This is one of the earliest decorated ketubot of Izmir.

Ketubah on large parchment sheet, with upper margin cut in wave pattern, with a sharp rounded protrusion in center. The ketubah text appears in the bottom half inside an arch-shaped frame, in Sephardic cursive script (several words – blessings, the names of the groom and bride, and dowry – are written in square script). The witnesses' signatures appear below the ketubah text: "David Amado" – Rabbi of Izmir (1777-1832), author of Tehillah LeDavid and Einei David; "Avraham Chaim", and signature of groom.

After signatures appears a Tosefet Ketubah written years later in Jerusalem, on 9th Tamuz 1862. Below are signatures of witnesses: to the right – signature and stamp of R. Rachamim Shlomo HaLevi (a rabbi and kabbalist of Jerusalem), to the left – signature and stamp of R. Refael Yisrael Elyakim (a rabbi of Jerusalem and Hebron), and in center – signature of groom, Yitzchak Refael Amado.

Afterwards follows another line with a confirmation by the Beit Din, signed by: R. Mordechai Eliezer Suzin (an emissary and rabbi of Jerusalem), R. Rachamim Menachem Mitrani (a rabbi of Adrianople, today Edirne; authored the MeAm Loez commentary on the Book of Yehoshua, continuing the endeavor initiated by R. Yaakov Culi) and R. Menachem son of R. Yitzchak (a rabbi of Adrianople).

The ketubah is richly decorated in gold, red, yellow and green, mainly in vegetal patterns. On the top is a large, round medallion with a flower-like decoration in its center, with eight petals; its outer frame incorporates the verse "One who finds a wife has found good" (Mishlei 18:22), and along the petals are verses from Yeshayahu (61:10-11; 62:1). The ketubah decorations resemble the style of ketubot from Thessaloniki during the same period.

Despite the bounty of documented ketubot in Izmir – which was home to one of the largest, most prosperous Jewish communities in the Ottoman Empire, and the second most important in Turkey – only a few decorated ketubot from the early 19th century survive. In his article on decorated ketubot of the Ottoman Empire, Prof. Shlomo Sabar notes (see below) that only two ketubot survive from this period (up to the 1830s), dated 1828 and 1830. The NLI ketubah site documents only two earlier ketubot from Izmir.

De Chaves was an important and well-established family in Izmir. Members of the family are mentioned in the Chevra Kadisha book of Izmir, Constantinople 1750, which records the names of society members since the mid-17th century.

66X87.5 cm. Overall good condition. Many folds and creases, affecting decorations. Some stains, mainly to margins. Several tears and missing pieces in margins. Uneven trimming of bottom margin (apparently original).

Reference: Shalom Sabar, "Decorated Ketubbot", in: Sephardi Jews in the Ottoman Empire: Aspects of Material Culture, edited by Esther Juhasz, Jerusalem: The Israel Museum, 1990, pp. 218-237.