Obj. ID: 37208
Sacred and Ritual Objects  Torah shield, Strasbourg, circa 1680

The following description was prepared by William Gross:

One of two such 17th century Torah shields, or the "Tas" as it is called in Hebrew, from the Alsace area, this is almost identical to the Torah shield by the same maker which is located in the Jewish Museum of London. These preserve the earliest form of Ashkenazi shields know to us as a rectangular piece of silver with cast ornaments around the edges. This Torah shield is one of a handful of earliest Torah shields know to have survived the years since the 17th century. There are holiday plaques, engraved on both sides, and two rampant lions supporting a crown are above. This Tas has been engraved in the nineteenth century with the gothic style initials of a donor who apparently paid for the restoration of the shield.  There are almost identically engraved initials on a pair of nineteenth-century French Rimmonim in the gross collection, 050.001.074.  It is reasonable to assume that they were dedicated to the synagogue at the same time as the restored Tas, together forming a set for the Torah scroll.

Inscription:  Gothic letters:  R F