Obj. ID: 54430 Amulet, Germany, circa 1775
sub-set tree:
The following description was prepared by William Gross:
During the last half of the 18th century, many birth amulets were printed in Germany, primarily in the areas of Sulzbach and Fuerth. They were usually specifically for a male or female child and seem to have been printed in pairs, as in Gross Family Collection 027.011.002, where they are printed together, and in Gross Family Collection 027.011.004 and 027.011.063, where they have been separated. This example probably has the pair, an amulet for the male child, printed on another sheet. These amulets often carry an illustration of either a male or female figure. These illustrations seem to have been taken from stock illustrations, often for the zodiac signs, and they sometimes appear on other printed pages for Jewish uses other than amulets.
On this amulet, the female figure depicted with a sheaf of wheat and a sickle is almost surely the illustration for the Four Seasons' sign of Summer. The names of the three angels whose names, Sanoi, Sansanoi Samangalaf, and other invocations for protection against Lilith. There are other amuletic texts as well. The amulet is printed with a decorative border.