![Esther Scroll with engraved decoration. [Italy, probably Venice, mid-18th century – ca. 1750].
Engraving, ink and color](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale106/6_1.jpg "Hand-Colored Engraved Esther Scroll – Probably Venice, Ca. 1750 – Clos")
![Esther Scroll with engraved decoration. [Italy, probably Venice, mid-18th century – ca. 1750].
Engraving, ink and color](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale106/6_10.jpg "Hand-Colored Engraved Esther Scroll – Probably Venice, Ca. 1750 – Clos")
![Esther Scroll with engraved decoration. [Italy, probably Venice, mid-18th century – ca. 1750].
Engraving, ink and color](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale106/6_11.jpg "Hand-Colored Engraved Esther Scroll – Probably Venice, Ca. 1750 – Clos")
![Esther Scroll with engraved decoration. [Italy, probably Venice, mid-18th century – ca. 1750].
Engraving, ink and color](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale106/6_2.jpg "Hand-Colored Engraved Esther Scroll – Probably Venice, Ca. 1750 – Clos")
![Esther Scroll with engraved decoration. [Italy, probably Venice, mid-18th century – ca. 1750].
Engraving, ink and color](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale106/6_3.jpg "Hand-Colored Engraved Esther Scroll – Probably Venice, Ca. 1750 – Clos")
![Esther Scroll with engraved decoration. [Italy, probably Venice, mid-18th century – ca. 1750].
Engraving, ink and color](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale106/6_4.jpg "Hand-Colored Engraved Esther Scroll – Probably Venice, Ca. 1750 – Clos")
![Esther Scroll with engraved decoration. [Italy, probably Venice, mid-18th century – ca. 1750].
Engraving, ink and color](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale106/6_5.jpg "Hand-Colored Engraved Esther Scroll – Probably Venice, Ca. 1750 – Clos")
![Esther Scroll with engraved decoration. [Italy, probably Venice, mid-18th century – ca. 1750].
Engraving, ink and color](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale106/6_6.jpg "Hand-Colored Engraved Esther Scroll – Probably Venice, Ca. 1750 – Clos")
![Esther Scroll with engraved decoration. [Italy, probably Venice, mid-18th century – ca. 1750].
Engraving, ink and color](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale106/6_8.jpg "Hand-Colored Engraved Esther Scroll – Probably Venice, Ca. 1750 – Clos")
![Esther Scroll with engraved decoration. [Italy, probably Venice, mid-18th century – ca. 1750].
Engraving, ink and color](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale106/6_9.jpg "Hand-Colored Engraved Esther Scroll – Probably Venice, Ca. 1750 – Clos")
Auction 106 Incunabula and First Editions | Illuminated Manuscripts | Jewish Ceremonial Art
Hand-Colored Engraved Esther Scroll – Probably Venice, Ca. 1750 – Closely Related to Scrolls by Engraver Francesco Griselini
Opening: $50,000
Sold for: $87,500
Including buyer's premium
Esther Scroll with engraved decoration. [Italy, probably Venice, mid-18th century – ca. 1750].
Engraving, ink and color on parchment; turned wooden roller.
"HaMelech" Esther Scroll (most columns begin with the word "HaMelech"), in Italian Stam script, on five parchment sheets sewn together, 20 engraved frames (four frames per sheet), 19 columns of text, 22 lines per column (final frame blank). High-quality hand-coloring from the time of printing, in tones of red and orange, yellow, purple, green and blue. Additional inscriptions appear in medallions at the heads of columns 11, 13 and 14 (on third and fourth sheets): "Mordechai", "Purim", "Shad-dai" (erased inscription in the medallion above column 12).
Decorations and Artistic Sources
A large and impressive scroll, decorated throughout with high-quality engravings, in a symmetrical architectural scheme incorporating birds and vegetal ornament. Each text column is set within an arched structure supported by two columns, surmounted by a balustrade and crowned with medallions adorned with rich vegetal motifs and with vases of flowers and fruit in two alternating designs.
At the tops of the medallions appear alternately a crowned double-headed eagle or a peacock; flanking each medallion, on both sides, are pairs of turkeys, roosters, parrots and hoopoes. At the bottom of each column, between the column bases, is a rectangular miniature depicting a narrative scene from the Esther story. An additional vegetal border was added in hand-drawn color along the lower margins, above the engraved frame.
The artistic program of this scroll strikingly corresponds with that of the Esther scrolls engraved by Francesco Griselini in Venice in the 1740s: the architectural elements, bird motifs and vegetal decorations are closely similar – at times virtually identical – in both design and high artistic quality, to the extent that one wonders whether the present scroll is not by Griselini himsel.
Furthermore, the size of the engraved plates and the size of the narrative miniatures (printed from separate plates) are identical to those used in Griselini's scrolls. Nevertheless, subtle differences distinguish the present scroll, most notably in the narrative scenes along the lower margins: although the artist clearly used Griselini's narrative compositions as a basis, he enriched them by adding details, increasing the number of figures and animals, and by emphasizing and elaborating the architectural settings and floor tiles.
Finally, it should be noted that in Griselini's scrolls his engraved signature appears at the bottom of the plate, whereas the plates of the present scroll are entirely unsigned.
Francesco Griselini (1717-1787) was an engraver best known for the engravings he produced for Esther scrolls in the 1740s, as well as for several engraved maps and for engravings made for Bibles and prayer books printed in Venice in the 1750s.
Parallels
The Center for Jewish Art (CJA) documents several Esther scrolls of this type, studied by Dagmar Budzioch and designated "Griselini-Related Esther Scrolls".
Copies are held, in Berlin State Library (Hamilton 235); Jewish Museum, New York (F 3840); Jewish Museum London (C1973.4.2.5); Museum of Jewish Art and History (mahJ), Paris (D.98.04.074.CL); Israel Museum, Jerusalem (MS 182/041); and in several other collections.
Height: 27 cm. Length of scroll: 241.5 cm. Overall good condition. Stains, creases and small tears at beginning of first parchment sheet. Several tears along sheets, professionally restored. Old longitudinal tear along entire third sheet, professionally restored. Small holes at beginning of first sheet, apparently from a former tie cord sewn there. Slight fading of ink and color. Sheets re-sewn together. Sewn at end to new wooden roller. Roller height: 55 cm. Housed in new leather-covered box with velvet lining.