Early Torah Shield – Germany, Late 17th Century – Dedicatory...
Early Torah Shield – Germany, Late 17th Century – Dedicatory Inscription from Schwanfeld, Bavaria
Silver, pierced, repoussé, engraved, and soldered; silver rivets; parcel gilt; glass stones.
Hallmarks: · Faded German municipal mark (eagle), probably from the 17th century (Schweinfurt?); · The initials "VR" in an oval, probably maker's mark, possibly referring to Veit Reutter, active in Schweinfurt in the latter decades of the 17th century.
Torah shield, early and small in size, relating to a group of some 20 Torah shields created in Germany between ca. 1680 and 1720.
The Torah shield is made of a horizontally rectangular plate of silver with a large gilt ornament at its center in the form of a protruding, convex crown, flanked by a pair of rampant lions. The Hebrew inscription "Keter Torah" ("Crown of Torah") is engraved on the crown, and underneath is a rectangular "window" to accommodate interchangeable plaques. Vegetal patterns and images of flowers and fruit are either pierced or depicted in repoussé on the surface of the Torah shield, and three additional crowns are pierced in the upper margin. Both the large, protruding, gilt crown in the center, and the central crown of the three in the upper margin above it, are adorned with red glass stones. Engraved to the right of the window for interchangeable plaques is the figure of Aaron, wearing a priestly headdress and holding an incense burner; and to the left of the window stands Moses, holding his staff in one hand and the Tablets of the Law in the other. Three bells are suspended by rings from the shield’s bottom edge. A fancy suspension device is attached to three long silver chains, attached, in turn, by rings to three suspension devices soldered onto the upper back of the shield; the device and the silver chains attached to it are all apparently contemporary with the shield itself. Seven interchangeable silver plaques, engraved on either side with the names of the special occasions and special Torah portions, are housed in a box opened and closed by means of a hinged bolt. The following names appear (in Hebrew) on the plaques: "Rosh HaShanah / Yom Kippur"; "Sukkot / Shut [= acronym for Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah]"; "Hanukkah / Purim"; "Shavu’ot / Passover"; "Sabbath / New Month"; "P. [abbrev. for "parshat"] Shekalim / P. Parah"; "P. Zakhor / P. HaChodesh".
Engraved in Hebrew on the reverse side of the Torah shield, on the back of the box holding the interchangeable plaques, is the following inscription: "This Torah shield belongs to Meir son of the martyr R. Ya’akov, ‘heh-yud-daleth’, and his spouse Feile daughter of Yosef of blessed memory of the Holy Congregation of Schwanfeld". We were unable to find historical documents mentioning the names of any of the individuals referred to in this inscription, neither Meir ben Ya’akov nor his spouse Feile bat Yosef; nor have we discovered any records regarding the circumstances of the death of Meir’s father, Ya’akov, though the Hebrew suffix/title "heh-yud-daleth" ("HaShem yikom damo") suggests martyrdom in the name of the Jewish faith.
The small town (municipality) of Schwanfeld, mentioned in this Torah shield’s dedicatory inscription, is located in the Schweinfurt region of Bavaria, near Würzburg, between Frankfurt and Nuremberg. The earliest mention of a Jewish presence in Schwanfeld dates to 1298, in documents relating the destruction of Jewish communities in the course of the "Rintfleisch-Verfolgung" ("Rintfleisch Pogrom") that took place in the summer of that year. Subsequent to this, as late as the 1540s, there is no reference to the existence of a Jewish population here. A viable Jewish community was apparently reestablished only in the last third of the 1500s, with permission being granted to the local Jewish population in 1579 to establish a prayer hall and "beit din", and appoint a rabbi. The same year, the Jews were also allotted a parcel of land for a cemetery, which, over the years, would also serve some ten adjacent Jewish communities.
In a document dated 1622, it is stated that a Jew by the name of "Hirsch", a horse trader and farmer, is the registered owner of two houses. In subsequent centuries, the community grew substantially in size. The Jews supported themselves as merchants, laborers, and farmers; they were required to pay an annual poll tax, and established a number of communal institutions and organizations, including a "Chevra Kadisha" burial society (as documented in an inscription dated 1712, over the sink in the room housing the ritual bath), a "G’milut Chassadim" charitable society, and a union created to promote trade and craftsmanship. In 1786, the community built itself a permanent synagogue, and subsequently, a Jewish school was also established. From then on, the Schwanfeld Jewish community continued to develop and grow, reaching its peak in the 19th century.
Numerous Jewish families with the surname "Schloss" lived in Schwanfeld and its environs, but as we lack any documentation regarding just how this Torah shield came into the possession of Solomon Schloss, we cannot definitively establish whether it had previously belonged to any of his forebearers, or whether the names mentioned in its inscription are associated with the Schloss family in any way.
Height: 16.5 cm. Width: 18 cm. Height including chains and bells: 44 cm. Interchangeable plaques: approx. 9X2.5 cm. Slight fractures and minor blemishes. Remnants of gilt. Open fracture to crown in upper right corner. Missing glass stones.
Literature:
1. Rafi Grafman, Crowning Glory: Silver Torah Ornaments of the Jewish Museum, New York, New York, 1996, pp. 17-18, 24-34.
2. "Pinkas Ha-Kehilot" (Encyclopedia of Jewish Communities), Jerusalem, 1972, "Germany (vol. 1)", "Bavaria", pp. 569-570.
3. Michele Klein, "Preserving Jewish heritage: Solomon Schloss's collection of Jewish ritual art", Journal of the History of Collections, vol. 34, no. 3, 2022, pp. 441-454.
A slightly similar Torah Shield is documented by Rudolf Hallo in his article "Jüdische Kultaltertümer aus Edelmetall in der Ausstellung Religiöse Kunst aus Hessen und Nassau", Marburg a/Lahn Sommer 1928. Notizblatt der Gesellschaft zur Erforschung jüdischer Kunstdenkmäler e.V., 1929, no. 23, Abb. 9.
For other early examples of Torah shields, see: Collection of the Jewish Museum, New York, item no. JM 29-52; Collection of the Israel Museum, Jerusalem, item no. B86.0133; Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg, Germany, item no. JA24; The British Museum, London, item no. 1893,0518.2.
Exhibitions:
1. London, Exhibition of Jewish Art and Antiquities, Whitechapel Art Gallery, 1906, item no. 1105 (titled there as follows: "Breastplate, very antique, belonging to the son of a martyr to his faith"). Mentioned in an article reporting on this exhibition: The Jewish Chronicle, "The Exhibition of Jewish Art and Antiquities, Part 2 – Ecclesiastical Art", November 16, 1906, p. 19.
2. Jewish Museum of Switzerland, Basel, JMS 1003.
Provenance:
1. Collection of Solomon David Schloss (1815-1911).
2. Lewis Raphael Castle (1858-1932), son of the above.
3. Peter Castle (1922-2011), grandson of the above.
4. Heirs of the above.
This item appears in the inventory list of the Schloss Collection, dated 1923 (see appendix, pp. 146-148), and is documented in a 1931 collection photograph (see p. 11).
Bid on this lot
Early Torah Shield – Germany, Late 17th Century – Dedicatory Inscription from Schwanfeld, Bavaria
Silver, pierced, repoussé, engraved, and soldered; silver rivets; parcel gilt; glass stones.
Hallmarks: · Faded German municipal mark (eagle), probably from the 17th century (Schweinfurt?); · The initials "VR" in an oval, probably maker's mark, possibly referring to Veit Reutter, active in Schweinfurt in the latter decades of the 17th century.
Torah shield, early and small in size, relating to a group of some 20 Torah shields created in Germany between ca. 1680 and 1720.
The Torah shield is made of a horizontally rectangular plate of silver with a large gilt ornament at its center in the form of a protruding, convex crown, flanked by a pair of rampant lions. The Hebrew inscription "Keter Torah" ("Crown of Torah") is engraved on the crown, and underneath is a rectangular "window" to accommodate interchangeable plaques. Vegetal patterns and images of flowers and fruit are either pierced or depicted in repoussé on the surface of the Torah shield, and three additional crowns are pierced in the upper margin. Both the large, protruding, gilt crown in the center, and the central crown of the three in the upper margin above it, are adorned with red glass stones. Engraved to the right of the window for interchangeable plaques is the figure of Aaron, wearing a priestly headdress and holding an incense burner; and to the left of the window stands Moses, holding his staff in one hand and the Tablets of the Law in the other. Three bells are suspended by rings from the shield’s bottom edge. A fancy suspension device is attached to three long silver chains, attached, in turn, by rings to three suspension devices soldered onto the upper back of the shield; the device and the silver chains attached to it are all apparently contemporary with the shield itself. Seven interchangeable silver plaques, engraved on either side with the names of the special occasions and special Torah portions, are housed in a box opened and closed by means of a hinged bolt. The following names appear (in Hebrew) on the plaques: "Rosh HaShanah / Yom Kippur"; "Sukkot / Shut [= acronym for Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah]"; "Hanukkah / Purim"; "Shavu’ot / Passover"; "Sabbath / New Month"; "P. [abbrev. for "parshat"] Shekalim / P. Parah"; "P. Zakhor / P. HaChodesh".
Engraved in Hebrew on the reverse side of the Torah shield, on the back of the box holding the interchangeable plaques, is the following inscription: "This Torah shield belongs to Meir son of the martyr R. Ya’akov, ‘heh-yud-daleth’, and his spouse Feile daughter of Yosef of blessed memory of the Holy Congregation of Schwanfeld". We were unable to find historical documents mentioning the names of any of the individuals referred to in this inscription, neither Meir ben Ya’akov nor his spouse Feile bat Yosef; nor have we discovered any records regarding the circumstances of the death of Meir’s father, Ya’akov, though the Hebrew suffix/title "heh-yud-daleth" ("HaShem yikom damo") suggests martyrdom in the name of the Jewish faith.
The small town (municipality) of Schwanfeld, mentioned in this Torah shield’s dedicatory inscription, is located in the Schweinfurt region of Bavaria, near Würzburg, between Frankfurt and Nuremberg. The earliest mention of a Jewish presence in Schwanfeld dates to 1298, in documents relating the destruction of Jewish communities in the course of the "Rintfleisch-Verfolgung" ("Rintfleisch Pogrom") that took place in the summer of that year. Subsequent to this, as late as the 1540s, there is no reference to the existence of a Jewish population here. A viable Jewish community was apparently reestablished only in the last third of the 1500s, with permission being granted to the local Jewish population in 1579 to establish a prayer hall and "beit din", and appoint a rabbi. The same year, the Jews were also allotted a parcel of land for a cemetery, which, over the years, would also serve some ten adjacent Jewish communities.
In a document dated 1622, it is stated that a Jew by the name of "Hirsch", a horse trader and farmer, is the registered owner of two houses. In subsequent centuries, the community grew substantially in size. The Jews supported themselves as merchants, laborers, and farmers; they were required to pay an annual poll tax, and established a number of communal institutions and organizations, including a "Chevra Kadisha" burial society (as documented in an inscription dated 1712, over the sink in the room housing the ritual bath), a "G’milut Chassadim" charitable society, and a union created to promote trade and craftsmanship. In 1786, the community built itself a permanent synagogue, and subsequently, a Jewish school was also established. From then on, the Schwanfeld Jewish community continued to develop and grow, reaching its peak in the 19th century.
Numerous Jewish families with the surname "Schloss" lived in Schwanfeld and its environs, but as we lack any documentation regarding just how this Torah shield came into the possession of Solomon Schloss, we cannot definitively establish whether it had previously belonged to any of his forebearers, or whether the names mentioned in its inscription are associated with the Schloss family in any way.
Height: 16.5 cm. Width: 18 cm. Height including chains and bells: 44 cm. Interchangeable plaques: approx. 9X2.5 cm. Slight fractures and minor blemishes. Remnants of gilt. Open fracture to crown in upper right corner. Missing glass stones.
Literature:
1. Rafi Grafman, Crowning Glory: Silver Torah Ornaments of the Jewish Museum, New York, New York, 1996, pp. 17-18, 24-34.
2. "Pinkas Ha-Kehilot" (Encyclopedia of Jewish Communities), Jerusalem, 1972, "Germany (vol. 1)", "Bavaria", pp. 569-570.
3. Michele Klein, "Preserving Jewish heritage: Solomon Schloss's collection of Jewish ritual art", Journal of the History of Collections, vol. 34, no. 3, 2022, pp. 441-454.
A slightly similar Torah Shield is documented by Rudolf Hallo in his article "Jüdische Kultaltertümer aus Edelmetall in der Ausstellung Religiöse Kunst aus Hessen und Nassau", Marburg a/Lahn Sommer 1928. Notizblatt der Gesellschaft zur Erforschung jüdischer Kunstdenkmäler e.V., 1929, no. 23, Abb. 9.
For other early examples of Torah shields, see: Collection of the Jewish Museum, New York, item no. JM 29-52; Collection of the Israel Museum, Jerusalem, item no. B86.0133; Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg, Germany, item no. JA24; The British Museum, London, item no. 1893,0518.2.
Exhibitions:
1. London, Exhibition of Jewish Art and Antiquities, Whitechapel Art Gallery, 1906, item no. 1105 (titled there as follows: "Breastplate, very antique, belonging to the son of a martyr to his faith"). Mentioned in an article reporting on this exhibition: The Jewish Chronicle, "The Exhibition of Jewish Art and Antiquities, Part 2 – Ecclesiastical Art", November 16, 1906, p. 19.
2. Jewish Museum of Switzerland, Basel, JMS 1003.
Provenance:
1. Collection of Solomon David Schloss (1815-1911).
2. Lewis Raphael Castle (1858-1932), son of the above.
3. Peter Castle (1922-2011), grandson of the above.
4. Heirs of the above.
This item appears in the inventory list of the Schloss Collection, dated 1923 (see appendix, pp. 146-148), and is documented in a 1931 collection photograph (see p. 11).
