Obj. ID: 23636
Sacred and Ritual Objects  Book binding, Amsterdam, 1794

The following description was prepared by William Gross:

The bindings of Jewish books are generally quite simple, but there does exist a tradition, probably among the wealthier section of the population, of binding books in special and elegant ways utilizing a variety of material.

Silver book bindings are one of the most elegant objects of Jewish ritual art. The form is generally copied from Catholic and Orthodox Christian tradition where prayer books were often covered with silver bindings in keeping with the other elegant silver pieces used in the prayer service. As in many other areas of life, Jews emulated some customs from what they saw of their Christian neighbors. Since such a binding was an expensive purchase for an individual, such silver pieces are fairly rare. Their appearance is most widespread in Italy, but examples also exist from Germany, Poland/Ukraine, Austria and even the Ottoman Empire. This is a particularly lush example with repousse technique emphasized by extensive piercing, creating color contrast spaces. The two medallions topped by a crown were made blank for later inscriptions and they have been uitilized here. Each side carries the name of one of a couple and very possibly records the bound books as having been a gift from one to the other.

Inside the binding is Gross Family Collection B.271 that carries the description:

This is one of the many editions of the Siddur that were printed in Amsterdam from the 17th to the 19th centuries. This was printed with the Ashkenazi rite, including both a separate book of Psalms and a section of Techinot. It is bound in a beautiful silver binding, Gross 025.001.007. The edges of the book are still bright with the gilding that was done and embossed with elegant gauffering. The last page in the book is a listing of family births and loosely inserted in a separate manuscript prayer, the Yehi Ratzon...... for the new month blessing.

The printers, Yochanan Levi Rofe and Son Binyamin, both father and son, were prominent Hebrew publishers in the last half of the 18th century, the final period of Amsterdam as a major center of Hebrew printing for all of Europe and beyond.

Inscription: Front: Yeta, daughter of the honourable Samson, may he live many good days Back: Yekutiel, son of the honorable Azriel Segal, (5)554, according to the minor reckoning

For the book see Gross Family Collection, B.271 (ID 35583)