Showing Results 31 - 40 of 136
Though he later turned to a more abstract style, Elbert Weinberg was still making figurative sculptures in the early 1950s, when a trend toward pure abstraction was already dominant. But Ritual Figure…
This basin from Kuntillet Ajrud is much too large to have been used for a practical purpose—it weighs more than 300 pounds (136 kg) and is large enough for two adults to sit in. The inscription…
This ewer and basin from Turkey were used to wash hands ritually during the Passover seder. Owned by the Benguiat family, a large and prominent Sephardic family in the Ottoman Empire, the objects…
During the holiday of Sukkot, four plant species are used in rituals in the synagogue. One of these is the etrog (citron). While containers to protect the etrog later became more common, they were…
Jews first settled in Kaifeng, the capital of Henan province in central China, before 1127. According to scholars, they had come from India or Persia, spoke Persian, and worked as cotton dyers and…
Like Torah scrolls, the scroll of the biblical book of Esther, read ritually in the synagogue on the holiday of Purim, must be completely unadorned. However, in the sixteenth century, for reasons…
These silver, crown-shaped Torah finials engraved with an okra floral motif are from the Paradesi Synagogue in Kerala, India. A Hebrew inscription (divided into four parts) reads: “The honorable R…
This belled gilt-silver Torah finial topped with a crown was made in Amsterdam and has been attributed to master silversmith Pieter van Hoven, who lived near the Jewish quarter and is best known for…
This silver Torah crown from Padua, Italy, is decorated with images of the tablets of law, incense utensils, the ark of the covenant,
and the headdress of the high priest.
This intricately decorated textile, possibly used as a Torah cover, was produced in Prague around 1600. Four squares adorn its center, the top two containing vases ringed by flowers and vines and the…
