Torah Shield Inlaid with Gemstones – Franz Kaltenmarker – Brno, ca. 1815 – From the Wertheimer Synagogue of the ...

Torah shield, by Franz Kaltenmarker. Brno, Moravia (today, Czech Republic), ca. 1815.

Silver, cut, repoussé, and engraved (marked with fineness mark from Brno, with faded year marking, from 1810-1819; Brno tax mark, in use from 1810 to 1824; and maker’s mark: the initials FK [= Franz Kaltenmarker] in an oval frame); gemstones (carnelian or jasper); colored glass beads.

At the top of the shield is a large crown inlaid with colored glass beads. Underneath this are the Two Tablets of the Law, inscribed in Hebrew with the (abbreviated) Ten Commandments. The Tablets are enclosed within a wreath of leafy branches with flowers and are flanked by a pair of rampant lions. At the center of the shield is a rectangular compartment for interchangeable plaques (enclosed are four plaques, three of them double-sided). Under the compartment is a vase filled with flowers flanked by vegetal patterns, and by the figures of Moses and Aaron the Priest, the former holding in his hands the Tablets of the Law and a staff, and the latter holding an incense burner. Five red gemstones are symmetrically inlaid into the surface of the shield. Original suspension chain.

Of all the documented Torah shields created by this silversmith (three belonging to the Jewish Museum, Prague, and one in a private collection in Vienna) this is the only one known to be adorned with gemstones.

This Torah shield is documented in an article by Sándor Wolf, "Die Kunst im Eisenstädter Ghetto" ("Art in the Jewish Ghetto of Eisenstadt"), Budapest, 1912 (originally published in Hungarian in the periodical "Mult és Jövö"), Fig. 26, p. 269. The Torah shield is documented there alongside a pair of Torah finials, a Torah pointer, and a Hanukkah lamp, all from the Wertheimer-féle synagogue of the Eisenstadt Ghetto, the historical Jewish quarter of Eisenstadt, Austria.

Height: 33 cm. Width: 26.5 cm. Overall good condition. Two gemstones missing (similarly missing in the 1912 photo of the Torah shield).

Provenance: Kedem, Auction 35, January 29, 2014, Lot 47.