Manuscript, Keter Malchut, by R. Shlomo ibn Gabirol, handwritten by Avraham Refael Servi. Cento (Italy), Elul 1859.

Booklet in neat, vocalized handwriting. Decorated cardboard binding, illustrated and with mounted paper strips (colored green, black and white). On the front of the binding is an illustration of a Star of David and a goblet-like illustration. On back binding, scribe's colophon, with location and date of writing: "My book, Avraham Refael Servi, which I wrote in the month of Elul, 1859, in Cento".

[25] leaves. 15 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains, tears and damage to binding.

PLEASE NOTE: Some lot descriptions were shortened in translation. For further

information, please refer to the Hebrew text.

Otzar HaSefer HaIvri, list of books printed in Hebrew script from 1469 to 1963, by Yeshayahu Vinograd. The Institute for Computerized Bibliography: Jerusalem, 1993-1995. Two volumes. Copy no. 1 of 100 of the bibliophile limited print, printed on blue paper with leather binding.

Personal copy of author, Yeshayahu Vinograd. Printed dedication on half-title of Part I: "Printed at the behest of Yeshayahu, Tzvi and Rachel Vinograd".
Two parts.

Two volumes. 27 cm. Good condition. Light stains to edges and several other places. Original leather binding, with gilt inscription on spines. Ex libris label of Yeshayahu Vinograd on first volume. Wear and light damage to bindings and spines.

PLEASE NOTE: Some lot descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to the Hebrew text.

Spicebox. Berlin, Germany, ca. 1840.
Silver, turned, repoussé and stamped (marked with three marks: Berlin municipal, a bear with a faded letter “A” [in use from 1821 to 1841]; and the letters “Ey” [?]); filigree.
Large spicebox in shape of tall, slender, three-tiered tower, with a tall steeple, tapering to a point, surmounted by a small, flattened sphere at the base of a double-pointed flag. Like the two tiers above it, the spice container is filigreed, and is bordered above and below by elegantly ornamented decorative bands. The door to the spice container rotates on a hinge and is opened and closed by means of a latch and bolt.

Height: 34 cm. Diameter at base: 7.5 cm. Good condition. Old soldering repairs at base of steeple.

PLEASE NOTE: Some lot descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to the Hebrew text.

Five Torah pointers (“klam des-sifer”). Morocco, [19th and 20th centuries].
Brass, cast and engraved; silver, cast, engraved, pierced, and chased.
Four silver Torah pointers and one brass Torah pointer.

The longest of the Torah pointers (the one with the large suspension ring) bears, on one face of the shaft, a dedicatory inscription (Hebrew, using standard abbreviations): “… Yihyeh ben Yehudah … Maman…”. The opposite face is inscribed (in Hebrew) with a biblical verse. The smallest of the Torah pointers is expertly chased with vegetal patterns. The brass Torah pointer is inscribed (in Hebrew) with the biblical verses.

Varying lengths, ranging from approx. 13 to 15.5 cm. Overall good condition.

PLEASE NOTE: Some lot descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to the Hebrew text.

Torah case with matching pair of finials. [India; possibly made in China], dedication dated 5647 [1887].
Wood covered in a coat of sheet silver, repoussé, stamped, and engraved; silver, cast, turned, and engraved; brass sheet and copper nails. Without Torah scroll.

Large, ornate Torah case, covered in a coat of repoussé sheet silver, adorned with rich, dense, vegetal patterns, with long, twisting tendrils. Capped with a large dome, decorated with patterns complementing those on the body, and with a pair of large, winding branches forming the outline of inverted heart shapes. The finials surmounting the dome are positioned on either side of it and are anchored just beneath the apices of the inverted heart shapes. The dome is surmounted by a pear-shaped ornament, with bells dangling from chains suspended from its base. The upper rim of the body is surmounted by a circular tiara-shaped ornament ("atarah") with a recurrent vegetal pattern. The base forming the bottom of the case is coated with a layer of brass sheet fastened to the wood with copper nails. The finials are pear-shaped, and adorned with patterns complementing those on the body and dome. At the bases of the graceful, conical, bud-shaped apices of the finials are thick grooved discs, and from these, dangling chains with bells at their ends are suspended.

On the surfaces of the two flat, opposing walls of the interior of the opened dome are silver plaques engraved with lengthy dedicatory Hebrew inscriptions. Inscribed on the right plaque are verses related to the subject of the Torah: "And this is the teaching which Moses set before the children of Israel" (Deuteronomy 4: 44), among others. The left plaque bears a lengthy inscription, dedicated by a widow to the memory of her departed daughter: "…this case and the Torah scroll contained within were dedicated by Simcha wife of the late R. Yaakov Shlomo Kashani, for the soul of her daughter Leah wife of R. Mordehai Yechezkel Natan, who passed away on Shabbat 24th Iyar 1886… Dedicated in 1887".

Although this particular case is reminiscent in its shape of Torah scroll cases from Iraq and the Near East, its decorative elements, the shape of its finials, and the style of its dedicatory inscription are actually far more typical of those of similar items from the Far East, specifically, India, China, and Burma. It thus represents a fine example of a sacred object belonging to Iraqi Jews residing in the Far East (for comparison, see two Torah scroll cases from Calcutta, India, in the collection of The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Item Nos. B94.0540, B94.0656).

Height of case: 95 cm. Diameter 26 cm. height of finials 23.5 cm. Overall good condition. Segments trimmed from shafts of finials to enable easy insertion into dome of case.

PLEASE NOTE: Some lot descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to the Hebrew text.