Auction 102 Part 2 Rare and Important Items

Decorated Parchment Ketubah – Genoa, 1828

Opening: $2,000
Estimate: $3,000 - $5,000
Unsold

Decorated parchment ketubah, for the wedding of Yaakov son of Moshe Altaras and Rosa Laura daughter of Avraham Levi Sonsino. Genoa, Italy, 2nd Adar 5588 [February 17, 1828].

Ink and paint on parchment.

Ketubah on rectangular parchment sheet. The text of the ketubah appears on the bottom half, in square letters, with the signatures of witnesses below: Refael Pinchas Bachi and David Tzion (on right) and the groom (on bottom). The ketubah also mentions a civil document notarized on February 13 by "a Christian notary scribe".

The text of the ketubah is framed in a rectangular arch, above which are two angels blowing horns and holding a banner reading "and good luck" (the beginning of the blessing, "With an auspicious sign", appears higher up). The frame is decorated with a symmetrical arrangement including a repeating pattern of leaf and flower decorations.

44X60 cm. Overall good condition. Stains, mainly to margins, only slightly affecting text and decorations. Folding marks.

For similar ketubot from Genoa, see: Shalom Sabar, The Art of the Ketubbah, Vol. I. New York: Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary, 2022, nos. 6-7 (KET 203, KET 144).

Ketubot
Ketubot