Torah scroll case. Iraq, dedication dated 1907.

Wood; silver sheets, repoussé and engraved; ink and paint on paper; printed cotton fabric; without Torah scroll.

Case shaped and decorated in characteristic style of Iraqi Torah scrolls. Coated in a silver sheet shaped into rich vegetal patterns, topped by a pear-shaped dome projecting chains with bells. A crown with a repeating vegetal pattern surrounds the dome.

Two strips of text are shaped out at the top and bottom of the case, with a dedicatory inscription:
"This case and the Torah scroll in it are dedicated in memory of the woman Salha, wife of Ezra Menachem, in the year 1907, providing that the owners are permitted to take it out and put it in any other place that they want".

Another decorated dedicatory inscription (accompanied by verses of blessing) also appears on the interior of the case, over a piece of paper:
"This case and the Torah scroll in it are on behalf of the dear elder Salha wife of Ezra Menachem, 1907".

Height: 83.5 cm. Diameter: 26 cm. Outer part in good condition, with some corrosion. Warping and fractures to edges of silver sheets, discernible mainly from bottom and interior. Defects and wear to interior, affecting paper decorations and wood.