OFFICIAL SEAL OF NAPOLEON’S SANHEDRIN

French, early 19th-century

Wood-handled bronze seal of Napoleon’s Assembly of Jewish Notables. Seal inscribed in Hebrew: “I am the Lord your God / You shall love your neighbor as yourself” within Decalogue-shaped cartouche surmounted by a crowned eagle atop thunderbolts and with further Hebrew inscription “God and King.” The rim inscribed in French: “ Assemble des Francais et Italiens Professants la Loi de Moyse.” Seal: 2.5 x 1.5 inches (5.2 x 4.4 cm); overall length: 4 inches (10.6 cm).

A significant and rare artifact from a unique socio-political experiment. This seal was used to endorse official documents issued by the Sanhedrin, the Jewish high court convened in Europe by Napoleon I to give legal sanction to the principles expressed by the Assembly of Notables in answer to the twelve questions submitted to it by the government. See L. Marcou, Napoleon Face aux Juifs (Paris, 2006) pp. 94-6; B. Blumenkranz & A. Soboul, Le Grand Sanhedrin de Napoleon (Toulouse, 1979) pp. 132-48; Diaspora Museum Catalogue, The Jews of France During the Revolution and the Napoleonic Era (1981). One other Sanhedrin seal has sold at auction, see Sotheby’s Tel Aviv, 12th October 1995, Lot 209.