Shiviti plaque, illustrated and decorated with micrography. [Presumably Central Europe, second half of 19th century].

Ink and paint on parchment.

Shiviti plaque, written in brown ink on a rectangular parchment sheet, illustrated with green and red, and decorated with a micrography work composed of chapters of Tehillim, the verses of the Ten Commandments and ethics.

The center of the plaque features verses and kabbalistic initials and permutations, in a rectangular frame surrounding the Lamnatzeach menorah and two trees; above the frame appears the Shiviti verse: "I have placed the Lord before me constantly", decorated in green and red. The wide margins are decorated with twisting interconnected micrographic circles, containing the verses of Tehillim 119 (arranged alphabetically, also recited by mourners), with the letters of the alphabet emphasized, followed by the Shir HaMaalot (Tehillim 120-122, 130). The double frame is comprised of the verses of the Ten Commandments (Shemot 20) on the inside, and a Midrash on Devarim 10:12 on the outside – on the importance of reciting a hundred blessings every day, and ethics on remembering the day of death.

The use of Tehillim 119 is uncommon in Shiviti plaques. Its integration with the texts on the margins may have been designed to give the plaque a "Memento Mori" function in recalling the day of death (few such plaques with Hebrew captions are known).

25X40 cm. Fair-good condition. Creases. Dampstains, affecting ink and illustrations. Some verses blurred (mainly in the Menorah). Several dark stains.