Obj. ID: 37243 Torah shield, Corfu, circa 1875
sub-set tree:
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 Torah Shield is copied from a form used in large buckles for Greek belts from the 19th-century costume. There is a similar example of such a shield in the Jewish Museum in Athens. The use of secular object forms for ritual objects is an interesting phenomenon, although certainly not surprising.
Inscription: May he rest in Eden, ?? the brilliant Rabbi Reb Castror? Shlomo? Crispin, May his Rock and Redeemer protect him, for the exaltation of the soul of ?????Rav Yosef Kobo? ???? in the Holy Congregation of Corfu ?????