Parchment ketubah, for wedding of Yosef son of Yom Tov Chamawi and Simchah daughter of Yitzchak Chamawi. Aleppo, Syria, 13th Nisan 5639 [April 6, 1879].

Ink and paint on parchment.

Ketubah on small, rectangular parchment sheet with upper edge cut into a triangle, as a sort of pediment over a pair of pillars. Ketubah text in Sephardic cursive text, with seven words enlarged and written in hollow square letters and colored in purple and green. Edges surrounded by verses of blessing also written in large, hollow square letters, in matching colors. Signatures of witnesses on edge of ketubah text.

23X32.5 cm. Overall good condition. Some stains and moisture damage, slightly affecting text. Small hole.

For a similar ketubah, see: Sabar (2022), II, no. 306 (KET 161).

Decorated paper ketubah, for the wedding of Shmuel son of Chaim (Esfahoni) and Chanah daughter of Nisan. Tehran, Iran, 27th Tevet 5654 [January 5, 1895].

Ink and paint on paper.

Ketubah on large rectangular paper sheet, decorated with many colors in vegetal patterns, gold and silver. Ketubah text appears within rectangular frames (some with pointed edges), concluding with signatures of groom (to the left) and witnesses (one of whom signs with an ink stamp). On verso of sheet appears an additional sum added to the ketubah, dated Iyar 1896, with signatures of witnesses.

Decorative red paper ribbons mounted on edges.

51.5X83.5 cm. Good condition. Stains, mainly to upper part. Many old folding marks, and tears to folds – all professionally restored.

This ketubah is also documented on the NLI ketubah site, listing 990003035520205171.

Decorated parchment ketubah, for the wedding of Yaakov son of Moshe son of Shem Tov Sequeira and Chanah daughter of Avraham son of Yitzchak son of Moshe son of Yitzchak son of Yeshuah son of Yitzchak HaLevi. Lisbon, Portugal, 4th Tamuz 5692 [June 29, 1892].

Ink and paint on parchment.

Ketubah on large parchment sheet decorated with a large, colorful flower arrangement, an elegant crown and fabric ribbons, with initials of the names of the groom and bride written at the bottom in Latin characters. Ketubah decorations very similar to ketubot produced in Gibraltar in the last decades of the 19th century, attesting to the link between both communities. The ketubah text follows the rite of the exiles from Spain. Signatures of groom and witnesses at edge of ketubah text.

60X70 cm. Overall good condition. Some creases and stains. Minor damage to paint.

Decorated paper ketubah. Rodosçuk (Tekirdağ), Ottoman Empire, present-day Turkey, 18th Iyar 5665 [May 23, 1905].

Ink and paint on paper; woodblock printing.

Ketubah on a thick, rectangular paper sheet with a pointed protrusion at top part. Most of the area of the ketubah is filled with decorations and verses of blessing, while the margins and the center are decorated with colorful repeating vegetal patterns printed from woodcuts. The ketubah text appears in the bottom third, with signatures of groom and witnesses.

40.5X63.5 cm. Overall good condition. Light moisture damage, slightly affecting paint. Creases, minor tears and folding marks, professionally restored. Tear approx. 5 cm long, affecting ketubah text (repaired). Pen trials to margins and verso of ketubah.

The NLI ketubah site documents only five ketubot from Tekirdağ.

Illuminated “Mizrach” plaque. [Southern Germany, 18th century].

Ink and paint on paper.

“Mizrach” plaque, inscribed and illuminated, on a rectangular sheet of paper. Divided into nine frames: a middle frame, containing the Hebrew word “Mizrach” [“East”], encircled by eight frames bearing folk art illustrations, labeled in Hebrew, depicting Jewish holidays and customs, and featuring figures in contemporary costume (clockwise: “Sukkot” [showing a sukkah and the taking of the “lulav”]; “… Yom Kippur” [lashes – a Jew ‘flogging’ a fellow Jew lying prostrate on the ground]; “Pesach” [a family of three seated at the seder table]; “Shavu’ot” [a Jewish man raising an open Torah scroll in the synagogue]; “Rosh HaShanah” [two Jewish men, dressed in white, in the synagogue, with one blowing the shofar and the other reading from a book, presumably a “machzor”]; “… Yom Kippur” [the “kapparot” ritual, involving a slaughtered rooster]; “Hanukkah” [a Jewish man lighting one of the candles in a large, erect Hanukkah lamp in the synagogue]; “Purim” [a man reading the Esther scroll at the table in the synagogue, while a child stands under the table (waving a Purim gregger or rattler?)]).

A similar plaque, formerly part of the collection of Heinrich Feuchtwanger (acquired in Ansbach, Germany) is kept today in the collection of the Israel Museum, Jerusalem (Item No. HF107, 169/25); see: Isaiah Shachar, “Jewish Tradition in Art: The Feuchtwanger Collection of Judaica”, exhibition catalogue, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, 1981, Item No. 107 (also documented by Theodor Harburger [P160-1002]).

Height: 20.5 cm. Width: 29 cm. Fair-good condition. Creases, stains (mostly to edges), fold lines and minor tears, with slight damage to illustrations, professionally mended. Minor abrasions and faded color. Matted; mounted on acid-free paper.