Auction 56 · Lot 9
A TURKISH SILVER SPICE CONTAINER / TORAH FINIAL.
- Estimate
- $2,000–$3,000
- Hammer price
- $25,000
Historical auction record. Hammer prices exclude buyer’s premium and taxes.
summary
Turkish, 19th century.
Seemingly a converted Torah finial. Pierced top and cone finial. Body chased with arcaded and fluted floral panels. Plain stem surmounted by fanned leaf motif; circular base engraved in Hebrew and dedicated to: “The Charity Collectors of the Holy Fund, Rabbi Yitzhak Russo, Rabbi Menahem Adoni, Rabbi Yosef Pinto and Rabbi Moshe Razone. 1874.”
Marks: Non-Western on stem and base.
Height: 14 inches (35.8 cm).
Grimwade no. 187 (44).
For other Torah finials of Ottoman origin see, Israel Museum Catalogue, Sephardi Jews of the Ottoman Empire (1990) pp. 55-6. In his comprehensive study “Sheluchei Eretz Yisrael” Abraham Yaari records (p. 677) an emissary from Safed named Chaim Yoseph Pinto who spent time in Izmir, Turkey.