Collections: Decorative Arts: Torah Curtain: Central Panel

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Torah Curtain: Central Panel

• Medium: Velvet embroidered with metal threads, silk brocade, metallic trim
• Geographical Locations:
  • Possible place made: Germany
  • Possible place made: Prague, Bohemia, Czech Republic
• Dates: 1735
• Dimensions: 19 x 38 in. (48.3 x 96.5 cm)
• Collections: Decorative Arts
• Museum Location: This item is not on view
• Accession Number: 49.228.18
• Credit Line: Purchased with funds given by S. Ralph Lazarus
• Image: Overall, 49.228.18_PS1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2005
Torah Curtain: Central Panel, 1735. Velvet embroidered with metal threads, silk brocade, metallic trim, 19 x 38 in. (48.3 x 96.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Purchased with funds given by S. Ralph Lazarus, 49.228.18 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 49.228.18_PS1.jpg)
• Catalogue Description: Green velvet panel, originally central panel of Torah curtain (parochet), embroidered with metallic threads, silk brocade and metallic trim. On top, Torah crown with Hebrew inscriptions [see catalogue sheet] and appliqué Hebrew inscriptions which read, "Torah Crown donated by Rabbi Eleazer (Katzenellenbogen) son of the Gaon Rabbi Moishe - may he live - in the year 1735 and his wife the virtuous Rifka daughter of the Gaon Rabbi Samuel Hillmann" [see catalogue sheet in Decorative Arts departmental files for Hebrew]. Panel may have formed a part of a Torah mantle rather than a curtain. Condition: Fair. Much of the metallic embroidery is worn, as well as the velvet. The opening between the curtain and its backing at the bottom of the textile does not appear to be a tear, but rather a part of the design.