Torah Mantle

CultureItalian (Mantua)
Titles
  • Torah Mantle
Datelate 17th century
MediumLinen and silk
DimensionsOverall: 23 × 11 1/2 × 10 1/2 in. (58.4 × 29.2 × 26.7 cm)
Credit LineMuseum purchase funded by Velva G. Levine
Object number2023.40
Current Location
The Caroline Wiess Law Building
111 Herzstein Gallery
On view

Explore Further

Object Type
Provenance[The Halpern Judaica Collection: Tradition and Treasure, Part I, Sotheby's, New York, December 15, 2022, Sale N10971, Lot 136]; purchased by MFAH, 2023.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Handwritten note on parchment sewninside the mantle, translated by Shaul Seidler-Feller of Sotheby's::

With God's help

The Lord God is truth, [and this inscription is] a note of truth regarding the Torah of truth with which God has graced His servants, namely the dear brothers—the esteemed physician, the honorable Benjamin Isaac Fano and his brother, may God keep them. It was brought to the Italian Synagogue, may God protect it, on the eve of the holy Sabbath on which Parashat Ha'azinu is read, in the manner of brides going to their weddings, with joy, song, and burning torches, with the thoroughgoing stipulation that they can remove it (ie - the Torah scroll) therefrom—they, their descendants, their descendants' descendants, their agents, and their heirs after them—at any time they wish. May it be [His] will that they merit to perform the commandments and live long, good lives. Amen.

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

If you have questions about this work of art or the MFAH Online Collection please contact us.

Torah Ark Curtain
1850
Cotton, linen, metallic thread
2023.613
Torah Binder
1774
Voided silk velvet, linen, and silk threads
2023.21
Overall recto
19th century
Silk embroidered with metallic and silk threads
2023.611
Image courtesy of Sotheby's New York.
1729
Linen with multicolored silk thread; lined
2023.24
Torah Binder
early 17th century
Linen
40.6
Wrapper for a Torah Case
late 19th-early 20th century
Gilt embroidery and application on maroon cotton velvet, gilt fringes
2023.18
Image courtesy of Sotheby's New York.
Simchah, daughter of Abraham Motto
1754
Linen with cotton(?) thread; original linen backing
2023.23
Chasuble with Scenes from the Lives of Christ and the Virgin
c. 1510
Silk, velvet, gold- and silver-wrapped thread, linen
2018.365
Overall.
Samuel Gassman
2023
Tiara: Iron, platinum, enamel on copper, 19th century neoclassical helmet shell cameos, pink conch shell cameo, 19th century malachite cameo, 19th century hard stone cameo, shell, ebony, rose quartz, citrine, opal, garnet, sea glass, aquamarine, amethyst, gold, natural pearls, tigers eye, 19th century cut steel, silk, cotton velvet, and silk floss Box: Archival foam core, Magic Smooth resin, cotton gauze, silk, cotton velvet, silver, metallic bullion ribbon, paper, cotton damask c. 1900, silk damask c. 1850, 18th century linen, cotton thread, and silk floss
2024.284.A,.B
Image courtesy of Sotheby's New York.
19th century
Linen with lace embroidery
2023.25
Torah Mantle
19th century
Velvet and gilt-metal thread
2023.37