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 Yehezkel Natan, who passed away on Shabbat 24th Iyar 1846… Dedicated in 1847".
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.