Large Torah shield by Franz Lorenz Turinsky. Vienna, 1818. Later dedicatory inscription dated 1863.

Silver, cast, repoussé, punched and engraved; parcel-gilt. Marked twice with Viennese fineness mark including the year 1818, and with the maker’s mark (worn): FL/T.

A large, massive Torah shield, richly decorated with high-relief ornamentation creating a three-dimensional effect.

At center, the Tablets of the Law (engraved with the Ten Commandments), surrounded by gilt appliqués of floral garlands and a crown. Two pairs of large, projecting columns flank the Tablets on either side; atop each pair stands a large gilt lion holding a shield. The left and right borders are repoussé and shaped as curtains; the lower border features vegetal repoussé decoration. The upper border, shaped like a pointed dome, is adorned with a large, projecting baldachin ornament with a wavy valance. A later dedicatory inscription is engraved on this ornament:
"Donation to the new synagogue of the holy community of Miskolc [Hungary] by Joseph Sauer and his wife Mrs. Feiga…", and on the valance:
"5623 [1863]".

Original triple suspension chain.

The silversmith
Franz Lorenz Turinsky (b. ca. 1757 – d. 1829) was among the leading Jewish silversmiths active in Vienna at the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th. He joined the Viennese silversmiths’ guild in 1789 and worked until 1828. Other Judaica objects by Turinsky – primarily Torah shields and Torah finials – are kept in prominent private collections as well as museum collections worldwide, including the Jewish Museum Vienna, the Jewish Museum in Prague, and the Jewish Museum in New York.

Height: 49.5 cm. Width: 34 cm. Overall good condition. Bends and minor fractures to edges, some with loss. Old repairs. Old break to the right curtain ornament, restored with silver rivets. Bells lacking from the valance of the canopy ornament. One finial missing at top. Without interchangeable plaques.