Curtain and Valance for Torah Ark

Jacob Koppel Gans

1772–1773

Embroidered curtain and valence bearing three crowns and five vessels.
Although few examples of the work of embroiderer Jacob Koppel Gans remain, he is best known for this Torah ark curtain and valance, dating to 1772 or 1773, made of velvet and embroidered with metallic and silk thread. The repetition of motifs on the valance and curtain, serving to visually integrate both pieces, is a stylistic detail original to Gans’s work. The artist’s curtain and valance are a rare example of signed Jewish ceremonial art, as Jewish artists of the period were not permitted to join guilds in German cities.

Credits

The Jewish Museum, New York. Gift of Dr. Harry G. Friedman.

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 6.

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Creator Bio

Jacob Koppel Gans

Jacob Koppel Gans was the son of an embroiderer, born in the Bavarian town of Hochstadt. Following in his father’s footsteps, Gans was himself a master embroiderer, and was active in the second half of the eighteenth century.

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