"Cheikel" handbag for Qur'an. Turkmenistan (Teke tribe), [20th century].
Leather; silver (parcel gilt), engraved; silver thread; carnelian gemstones.
Leather handbag. On front, silver plate with inlaid carnelian gemstones and geometric patterns. Long leather carrying strap, also inlaid with silver ornaments and gemstones.
Handbags of this type were carried by women, and were used for holding books of the Qur'an or surahs excerpted from the Qur'an, alongside personal items.
Handbag: 13.5X11.5 cm. Leather strap: 40 cm.
Reference: The Arts and Crafts of Turkestan, p. 132.

Two pectorals (chest ornaments, also serving to fasten the garment, as collar clasps). Turkmenistan (Yomut or Yomud tribe), [first half of 20th century].
Silver (gilt), cast and engraved; gemstone; glass beads.
Two round ornaments with scalloped edges, with dense geometric and vegetal patterns, and inlaid with glass beads and a gemstone.
Diameters: 12.5 cm, 11 cm.
Reference: The Arts and Crafts of Turkestan, p. 98.

Three mezuzah cases. India, [20th century].
Brass, cast and sawed; copper, cast and sawed; glass.
1. Large mezuzah case, cylindrical, with heart-shaped aperture and elegant, symmetrical back plate. Length: 24 cm.
2. Mezuzah case, cylindrical, with aperture in shape of domed building, and back plate with two Stars of David at top and bottom. Length: 13 cm.
3. Mezuzah case, cylindrical, with oval-shaped aperture and back plate in form of elongated Star of David. Length: 13.5 cm.

Heart-shaped dedicatory plaque ("tass"), suspended so as to overhang a Torah ark curtain. Iraqi-Jewish community of Rangoon, Burma (today Yangon, Myanmar), 5693 [1933].
Sheet silver, cut, repoussé, and stamped.
Hebrew dedicatory inscription: "This is the plaque and Torah ark curtain [dedicated to] the elevation of… Shaul Elya Avraham Sofer may he rest in Eden [having] passed away on the Holy Sabbath / 12th of the month of Nissan 5693 [1933] / aged 55 years / may his soul be bound up in the bond of everlasting life." At the bottom of the plaque, encircling and inside a Star of David, is the Hebrew inscription giving the name of the "Synagogue… Musmeah Yeshua in the City of Rangoon." The two Hebrew initials of this synagogue appear inside two small Stars of David at the top of the plaque.
The Musmeah Yeshua ("Matzmiach Yeshua") Synagogue is the last surviving Jewish house of worship in the Lower City of Yangon, and, for that matter, the lone surviving synagogue in all of Myanmar. Established in 1857, it is nestled between private shops on a small street in the vicinity of the city center, and continues to serve the remaining members of Myanmar's tiny Jewish community, most of them descendants of Sephardic Iraqi Jews.
Length: 23.5 cm. Width: 21 cm. Good condition.
See also item nos. 121, 192.

23 postcards depicting Jews of Bulgaria, Bosnia, Serbia, and Croatia, as well as synagogues and Jewish sites. Various publishers and locales, [first half of 20th century].
These postcards feature portraits of Jewish individuals, in addition to Jewish sites in Bulgaria (Sofia, Burgas, Brod), as well as Bosnia, Serbia, and Croatia (Sarajevo, Višegrad, Tuzla, Novi Sad, Zagreb, Vukovar, Bečej, Subotica, Niš). Three undivided-back postcards.
Average size: 9X14 cm. Condition varies.