Curtain and Valance for Torah Ark

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.