Stenciled cutout on parchment. [Central Europe, 19th century?].
Non- symmetrical heart-shaped parchment cutout. Divided into three strips: the bottom strip with geometrical patterns, the middle strip with a deer among trees headed by a late unidentified Hebrew inscription ("tohalak") and the top strip with a crown.
Both the crown and the deer are common motifs in Jewish iconography and have symbolic meaning. The deer is reminiscent of the gazelle in the dictum found in Pirkei Avot "…fleet as a gazelle to do the will of your Father in heaven" and the crown is the "Torah crown", symbolic of the elevated status of Torah in Jewish life.
9X11 cm. Good condition. Stains.