Obj. ID: 37245
Sacred and Ritual Objects  Torah finials, Munich (München), 1865

The following description was prepared by William Gross:

Breastplates – ornamental metal plates or shields hung in front of the Torah scroll – are found in all Ashkenazi communities, as well as Italy and Turkey, but designed differently in each community. In most cases the breastplate is made of silver or silver-plated metal. In Italy the breastplate is shaped like a half-coronet and known as the Chatzi-keter, "half-crown." In Turkey, the breastplate is called a Tas, and assumes a variety of shapes – circular, triangular, oval, or even the Star of David. In Western, Central, and Eastern Europe the breastplate is called either Tas or Tziz; its function there is not merely ornamental: it designates which Torah scroll is to be used for the Torah reading on any particular occasion, with interchangeable plaques.

The most notable early breastplates, from 17th-century Germany and Holland, were either square or rectangular, but over time they became rounded and decorative, and bells or small dedicatory plaques were suspended from its lower edge. During this period, the design of breastplates was influenced by that of the Torah Ark and the parokhet (curtain) concealing it, featuring various architectural motifs, the menorah (the seven-branched candelabrum), Moses and Aaron, lions, or Torah crowns.

This is an elaborately constructed and decorated Tas, one of the few ritual objects whose origin is in Munich. This particular master did a few similar Tasim and at least two pairs of Rimmonim in the same years. One identical tas was in the Furman Collection. The accompanying pair of Rimmonim, Gross Family collection 050.001.078, is identical to the pair by the same master in the JMNY, F 4752, #298 as recorded in the book "Crowning Glory." Another singleton is in the collection of the Stern Collection, now in the Yeshivah University Museum #MS/T66. A further singleton is in the collection of Yad Vashem and displayed in the synagogue there. A similar, but smaller Tas, is in the collection of the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. While both Tas and Rimmonim are made substantially of cast and stamped elements, their weight and elegance are profound and the presence of a set in one collection is unique.

Inscription: Abbreviations for the Ten Commandments on the Tablets of the Law