Auction 99 Part 2 Rare and Important Items
Nov 5, 2024
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Auction 99 Part 2 Rare and Important Items
Nov 5, 2024
Opening: $5,000
Estimate: $8,000 - $10,000
Sold for: $6,250
Including buyer's premium
Two handwritten documents from members of the Sforno family. Bologna (Italy).
1. Manuscript, appeal to the authorities of Bologna by Avraham Sforno. February 14, 1477. Italian.
An appeal calling for the involvement of the mayor and the court of Bologna in an episode of violence.
The appellant, Avraham son of Reuven son of Shmuel Sforno (uncle of the biblical commentator Rabbi Ovadia Sforno), a resident of Santo Stefano, Bologna, claims that a man named David Musetti, a Jew of Modena living in Bologna, was one of the two armed men who attacked him one night outside of his home, beating him and severely injuring him and his servant. Despite the fact that the attackers wore masks, one of Sforno's servants identified Musetti, and this document shows that the victim attempted to bring the attacker to justice.
The episode occurred in October 1476, next to Sforno's home in Guardia di Bologna, located on a hill in a forest outside of the city (today in the suburb San Ruffillo), where he and his family had fled from a plague that had broken out in the city.
As mentioned, Avraham Sforno mentioned here is the uncle (paternal brother) of Rabbi Ovadia Sforno, the biblical commentator.
See: R. Rinaldi, un inventario dei beni dell'anno 1503: Abramo Sforno e la sua attività di prestatore, Il Carrobbio IX, 1983.
The watermark matches paper manufactured in 14th-century Italy.
[1] leaf. Approx. 21X30.5 cm. Good condition. Light stains. Folding marks. Puncture to center of leaf, slightly affecting text. Minute marginal tears.
2. Manuscript, legal ruling regarding Avraham Sforno of Bologna. December 22, 1479. Latin.
Confirmation of a legal ruling handed out by the court of Bologna, sentencing citizen Matteo Salaroli to death for robbing the bank of Avraham Sforno (Abramo figlio di Rubino) of Santo Stefano Square, Bologna. In addition, Salaroli is ordered to repay the sum he robbed in full. The document notes that the defendant had robbed the same bank several times, that the sentence is final and that its execution was approved by the mayor.
See: M. G. Muzzarelli, Gli Sforno di Bologna, Zakhor 3, 1999.
[1] leaf (written on both sides). 31.5 cm. Good condition. Stains. Puncture to bottom of leaf, not affecting text. Minute marginal tears.
The Sforno family, a family of bankers from Spain, one of the most prominent Jewish families in Italy, whose members included, most famously, the Biblical commentator R. Ovadiah Sforno (1468/1473-1549). After a long period of wandering throughout Italy, he settled in Bologna along with his brother Chananel, where he served as a posek and physician and was moreover a partner in establishing a Hebrew printing press (the first Hebrew book to be printed there was his philosophical book Or Amim, in 1537).
Category
Jewish Communities – Ketubot and Various Documents
Catalogue
Auction 99 Part 2 Rare and Important Items
Nov 5, 2024
Opening: $5,000
Estimate: $6,000 - $8,000
Sold for: $8,750
Including buyer's premium
Decorated parchment ketubah for the wedding of Shemaiah son of Aminadav Cases and Mirele daughter of Yosef Rimini. Mantua, Friday, May 25 1668.
An early, elaborate ketubah from Mantua, richly decorated with colors, geometrical patterns, gold and silver dots, and a family emblem; the earliest Italian ketubah decorated with this pattern.
The text of the ketubah is written in square letters, within the center of an architectural frame featuring a pair of pillars and an arch, decorated with an interlocking geometrical pattern colored green, red, blue and gold, with silver dots; a large image of a crown is featured in the center of the arch. The margins of the ketubah are decorated with a wide frame – in the same colors as the inner frame – with geometrical patterns of interlocking circles. The medallion located at the upper end of the frame features an illustration of a pair of doves with the word "Shalom" in between them (apparently an allegorical illustration, perhaps alluding to the bride's family emblem of a rooster), and the medallion at the bottom of the frame incorporates the groom's family emblem – an erect lion holding a branch.
The bottom margins of the ketubah text contain the signatures of the witnesses: "Shlomo son of R. Binyamin of Formiggini" and "Gur Aryeh son of R. Moshe Hoshayah HaLevi". Handwritten notes appear between the lines of the dowry and at the end of the ketubah text: "Verona currency…".
The bridegroom was a member of the respected
Cases family, who were of Spanish origin and reached Tuscany and later Florence in the late 15th century. The family settled in Bologna and Mantua, where they were distinguished leaders of the Jewish community. Its members gained fame as scribes, rabbis and physicians.
The second witness,
R. Gur Aryeh son of R. Moshe Hoshayah HaLevi [Finzi], was a rabbi and kabbalist in Mantua in the latter half of the 17th century. He authored a commentary on the Shulchan Aruch, printed with the Mantua 1722-1723 Shulchan Aruch edition published by his nephew R. Gur Aryeh (the second) son of R. Binyamin HaLevi Finzi. Other works of his, some kabbalistic, remain in manuscript. He was a friend of R. Moshe Zacuto (1625-1697), and the Chida reports that he heard the heavenly messenger teaching Torah to R. Moshe Zacuto (Shem HaGedolim, entry R. Moshe Zacuto).
R. Shlomo son of Binyamin Formiggini, the first witness, was a Torah scholar and kabbalist in Mantua, who served as the official scribe of the city's Jewish community.
Approx. 57X47 cm. Fair-good condition. Creases and stains, some dark. Folding marks. Tears, mainly to bottom part, including some open tears. Some tears are a few cm long. Some strips lacking, affecting decorations, some artistically repaired on paper. Several paper strips mounted on verso for reinforcement and repair of tears.
Provenance: Sotheby's, New York, June 16 2022, Lot 71.
Category
Jewish Communities – Ketubot and Various Documents
Catalogue
Auction 99 Part 2 Rare and Important Items
Nov 5, 2024
Opening: $2,500
Estimate: $3,000 - $5,000
Sold for: $6,875
Including buyer's premium
Certificate of appreciation bestowed upon Dr. Ignaz (Yitzchak) Kuranda by the Gomlei Chasadim Chevra Kadisha of Prague. Color lithograph, Mittag & Wildner: Prague, dedication dated 5641 (1880-1881).
Large, elaborate certificate of appreciation, with a dozen illustrations depicting the ancient Jewish cemetery of Prague – featuring images of several of its distinguished and ancient graves – and the activities of the Gomlei Chasadim Chevra Kadisha in the city.
The eight illustrations depicting the cemetery document the graves of R. David Oppenheim, R. Mordechai Meisel – leader of the Jewish community in the time of the Maharal, the Maharal of Prague, R. David Gans, the noblewoman Hendele wife of financier Yaakov Bassevi, R. Avigdor Kara, R. Shimon Shapiro and R. Yosef Shlomo Delmedigo (Yashar of Kandia). The remaining four illustrations depict the activities of the Chevra Kadisha.
The center of the certificate contains printed blessings and dedications from the Chevra Kadisha, with the recipient's name and titles filled in by hand: "The man raised high, the all-around sage R. Dr. Yitzchak Kuranda, one of the ministers and advisors of the lands of the King of Austria, adorned in glorious ornaments by kings desiring his honor!".
Ignaz (Yitzchak) Kuranda (1811-1884) was a publicist, author and Austrian statesman born in Prague, who took an active part in Jewish community life in Vienna in the second half of the 19th century. Kuranda served as a representative in the Landtag of Lower Austria from 1861 and later served as president of the Jewish community of Vienna (IKG) from 1872 until his passing.
The bottom margins of the document contain the signatures of the representatives of the Chevra Kadisha in Prague: "Itzek R. Avraham Schitz", "Shmuel Taussig", "Kaufman Plahn", "Moshe R. Avraham Wohle Absan", "David Zoppert", "Zechariah Kuh", "Leib son of R. David Kuhe Segal".
This document is reminiscent, in design and layout, of Mizrach and Yahrzeit posters printed in central Europe during the 19th century which were distributed and sold commercially. Nevertheless, the present certificate appears to be an original work designed specifically for the Gomlei Chasadim society of Prague; we know of no other copies of this print, and it appears that even the illustrations printed here were specifically designed for this certificate, as they do not appear in other sources.
38X48 cm. Fair-good condition. Wide, complete margins. Creases, wear and rolling marks. Stains, some dark. Marginal tears, some reinforced with tape to verso.
Category
Jewish Communities – Ketubot and Various Documents
Catalogue