Decorated parchment ketubah, for the wedding of Avraham son of Yitzchak Cransy and Rivkah daughter of David Leon. Bordeaux, France, 4th Tishrei 5576 [October 8, 1815].

Ink and paint on parchment.

Ketubah on a small rectangular parchment sheet with rounded upper corners. The text of the ketubah appears in the center, in brown Sephardic semi-cursive script, and the signatures appear below in Latin characters: signature of R. Abraham Andrade, Rabbi of Bordeaux, signatures of the groom and witnesses (difficult to decipher; Mendes? Astrug?). The text also mentions a civil document notarized "by the notary Matthieu". Although the text begins with the word "Wednesday", the date 4th Tishrei that year fell on a Sunday, not a Wednesday.

The ketubah is decorated in the characteristic style of the Sephardic families of Bordeaux, and includes illustrations of flowering branches growing from a large flowerpot located in the center of the bottom margins. The text is framed in a square, with the blessing "With an auspicious sign" at the top in large letters, decorated with undulating patterns in shades of yellow and orange.

28.5X42 cm. Fair condition. Stains, some dark, affecting text and illustrations. Many creases and folding marks. Tears and damage, professionally restored.

This ketubah was formerly in the collection of Mozes Heiman Gans (1917-1987), Amsterdam, from which it was scanned onto the NLI ketubah site, listing 990003030990205171.

For a similar ketubah, see: Shalom Sabar, The Art of the Ketubbah, Vol. I. New York: Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary, 2022, no. 212 (KET 149).