Obj. ID: 10852
Sacred and Ritual Torah mantle, Thessaloniki (Salonika), 1896
The trapezoid Torah mantle comprises a cloak attached to a round top and has a vertical back opening. The central upper front is decorated with a crown flanked by the Hebrew initials:
כ ת
Translation: "The crown of Torah" (based on Avot 4:13).
Below the crown is a wreath made up of two foliate branches bound by a ribbon, creating a roundel that encloses a dedicatory inscription. A Hebrew dedication is inscribed in square, filled letters, which reads:
"קדש לה'/ זאת נדבה אשר/ הפרישו מתרומת/ כספם היקר הר'/ יוסף משה חבי"ד (חכם בית דין)/ הי"ו (ה' ישמרהו ויחיהו) ובנו היקר/ מרדכי הי"ו (ה' ישמרהו ויחיהו) לכבוד/ אביו ישלם ה' פעלם (מבוסס על רות ב: יב)/ שנת 5656."
Translation: "Dedicated to the Lord. This donation was made of the money contributed by the dear Rabbi Joseph Moses, Judge of the Rabbinic Court, may the Lord sustain and protect him. And of his dear son Mordechai, may the Lord sustain and protect him. (The donation was made) in honour of his father, may 'the Lord will recompense thy work (and a full reward be given thee of the Lord, under whose wings thou art come to trust.'; based on Ruth 2:12). The year 5656 (1896)."
A scrolling stem runs along the edges, while four bouquets of flowers are set on each corner and point to the center (fig. 1). The round top has two openings for the Torah staves. A fringed strip surrounds the top and the bottom edges of the cloak.
Online collection of the ritual objects from the E. Ringelblum Jewish Historical Institute is available here: http://cbj.jhi.pl/collections/964689
The mantle is made up of a rectangular cloth, imitating a traditional cushion cover. Yet, unlike most mantles in the collection, this mantle was originally made for this purpose, although sewn as if it is a secondary use of a cushion cover, adjusted to be a mantle. The fine work and abundant decoration attest to the economic situation of the donours, who most probably were wealthy people, who could afford a special work dedicated to the synagogue.
sub-set tree: 
Cloth: dark red silk velvet
Lining: cotton
Decoration: gold threads in laid and couched embroidery
Foundation: cardboard
Inscription: gold threads in laid and couched embroidery
Foundation: cardboard
Additions: machine-made fringed strip, paillettes
Width: 860 mm
Diameter: 20 mm
Intact
Brzewska, Iwona and Magdalena Sieramska, "Catalogue," in The Museum of the Jewish Historical Institute: Arts and Crafts (Warsaw: Auriga Wydawnictwa Artystyczne I Filmowe, 1995).
Juhasz, Esther, “Arigim ve-rekamot ba-bayit u-ve-veit ha-keneset”, In Yehudei Sepharad Ba-Imperia Ha-Ottomanit, ed. Esther- Juhasz, ( Jerusalem: The Israel Museum, 1989), 64-119 (In Hebrew)
Juhasz, Esther, “The Material Culture of Sephardic Jews in the Western Ottoman Empire, (Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries) In The Jews of the Ottoman Empire, ed. Avigdor Levy ( Princeton: The Institute of Turkish Studies, 1994), 575-583.
Messinas, Elias. The Synagogues of Salonika and Veroia. (Athens: Gavrielides Editions, 1997)