Obj. ID: 37117
Sacred and Ritual Objects  Torah finials, Jerusalem, circa 1900

The following description was prepared by William Gross:

The finials evolved from knobs at the upper end of the staves (Atzei Chaim) on which the Torah scroll is wound. Since the shape of the spherical finial recalled that of a fruit, it was called a tappu'aḥ, "apple," among the Jews of Spain and in the Sephardi Diaspora, and a rimmon, "pomegranate," in all other communities.

The earliest known reference to Torah finials occurs in a document from 1159, found in the Cairo Genizah, from which we learn that by the 12th-century finials were already being made of silver and had bells. Around the same time, Maimonides mentions finials in the Mishneh Torah (Hilkhot Sefer Torah 10:4). Despite the variations on the spherical shape which developed over the centuries and the addition of small bells around the main body of the finial, the spherical, fruit-like form was the basic model for the design of finials in Oriental and European communities.

A most significant variation appeared in 15th-century Spain, Italy, and Germany, where the shape of finials was influenced by that of various objects of church ritual, whose design often incorporated architectural motifs, The resulting tower-like structure, which seems to have appeared around the same time in different parts of Europe, became the main type of finial in 18th-century Germany and Italy, as well as Morocco, brought there by Jews expelled from Spain.

While the majority of silver produced by Jerusalem silversmiths at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century is rather plain and simple work, there are some objects that clearly came from the hands of more skilled artisans. This beautifully decorated and detailed pair of Rimmonim is one of those items, and there are several pairs known with the same workmanship, even though the name of the silversmith is not known. This pair of Rimmonim was specifically made for us on a Torah Tik and carries an inscription with the name Sulimanof, probably from the Bucharan community of immigrants from that place who came in the 1880's. There is another pair of Rimmonim in the Gross Family Collection that was made in the same shop, 050.001.009 and a pair formerly in the Gross Family Collection (050.011.058) and now located in the Green Collection in Oklahoma City. Other Rimmonim by this silversmith are in the Jewish Museum in New York (Crowning Glory, No. 370, with Jerusalem inscription from 1897/98) and in a synagogue in Jerusalem. This Jerusalem form has its source in Iraq and could have been fashioned by a Jerusalem artisan originally from Iraq. From the same of the donor, Suleimanof, it is possible to deduce that this pair was in use in a synagogue of Bucharan Jews.

Inscription: The gift of Suleimanof, May his Rock and Redeemer protect him, May the Lord sustain him and grant him favor.