Important Pair of Torah Finials – Amsterdam, 1705 – Pieter van Hoven

Pair of Torah finials by Pieter van Hoven. Amsterdam, 1705.

Silver, cast, repoussé, pierced and engraved; parcel-gilt.

Each of the Torah finials is fully marked (some marks severely rubbed): Amsterdam city mark, Amsterdam fineness mark, date letter – apparently the letter T for 1705, and maker’s mark. Additionally, each stem bears marks of the Ashkenazi Congregation of Amsterdam: (קאא), "NIH AMST" (Nederlands-Israëlitische Hoofdsynagoge Amsterdam), and serial number "DS 11" (Dritt Sjoel, the third Ashkenazi synagogue in Amsterdam); one stem stamped with the number 74 and a handwritten inventory number "0061" (from the NIHS collection), the other – the number 75.

A pair of large, massive, and highly impressive Torah finials, created by one of the foremost Amsterdam Judaica silversmiths of the late 17th and early 18th centuries – now offered together at auction for the first time.

Designed in architectural hexagonal tower form, typical of 17th-18th century Dutch Torah finials (especially among the Portuguese community), later adopted in other countries during the 18th and 19th centuries.

Each finial surmounted by a crown-like ornament and a tall, pointed upper finial (screw-mounted). The upper tier of the tower features arched windows with suspended bells, ovoid and rectangular piercings, and applied scrolling S-shaped ornaments ending in pointed baluster finials; above, a small additional tier with six arches for additional bells (now missing). The central tier of the tower is decorated with six trilobed openings, each housing a bell. Between the openings are applied foliate scrolls and hooked ornaments, also intended for bells (now missing). The center of the lower tier features a shallow domed base. Each finial is mounted on a long cylindrical shaft, topped with a small ring of globular ornaments and a larger hexagonal joint adorned with acanthus leaves and ovoid piercings – forming the base of the tower.

Each finial is composed of three heavy sections joined by six screws and nuts. The shafts, likely originally screw-mounted, are now soldered to the lower sections. Since they were separated in the past (see below), slight differences in gilding and surface cleanliness are noticeable; however, there is no doubt the present Torah finials form an original pair.

The Silversmith and His Work

Pieter Jansz van Hoven (1653-1735), a Protestant silversmith born in Amsterdam, son of a boatman from Utrecht. Best known for the Torah finials and Hanukkah lamps he produced for both the Portuguese and Ashkenazi Jewish communities in Amsterdam. Married in 1679, he resided on Uilenburg Island near the Jewish quarter. First documented as a silversmith in 1680. By 1682 he had relocated to Pieter Jacobszstraat, across the Jewish quarter, near the Great Ashkenazi Synagogue and the site where the Dritt Sjoel – the third Ashkenazi synagogue – would later be built, and where the present Torah finials were once kept.

Design and Parallels

This Dutch model of Torah finial originated in the early 17th century; the earliest known pair, dated 1641, is preserved in the collection of the Portuguese Jewish community of Amsterdam. The model became widespread during the 18th century, adopted by silversmiths in the Netherlands, England, and Germany.

Similar finials by van Hoven are held in the Jewish Historical Museum, Amsterdam: a pair dated 1681 (MB00102); another from 1696 (MB00075); and a third from 1716 (M000542). A fourth pair from 1705 is kept in the Jewish Museum, New York (F2827a-b; Grafman, no. 383). Another pair by van Hoven was sold at Sotheby’s, New York, December 15, 2010, Lot 63.

Provenance

As indicated by the "DS 11" marks, these finials once belonged to the Ashkenazi community of Amsterdam and formed part of the silver collection of the Dritt Sjoel – the third synagogue of the community, established in 1700 adjacent to the Great Synagogue and the Upper Synagogue (Obbene Sjoel) in the Jewish quarter. This synagogue complex, situated near the Portuguese Synagogue, served the community until the Second World War. Today, it houses the offices of the Jewish Museum.

Several decades ago, the finials were separated: finial no. 75 was sold by the community, while finial no. 74 (with the later catalogue number 0061) remained in the community's possession until it was sold in 2006 (Sotheby’s, New York, December 13, 2006, Lot 113). The pair was later reunited in a private collection and is now offered for sale together, for the first time in many years.

Finial no. 0061 (i.e. no. 74) is discussed in Mirjam Alexander-Knotter's article "The Festive Display at Amsterdam’s Ashkenazi Synagogues", in: Gifts from the Heart, 2004 (see bibliography).

Height: 45.5 cm. Max. width: 13 cm. Traces of gilding. One shaft (no. 74) slightly flattened and misshapen. Lacking bells. Most bells are replacements. One finial fitted with copper-colored bells. Old soldering repairs, mostly to shafts and joints.. Old fractures and cracks at bases of shafts. Pointed finial-like ornaments on the upper tiers have been replaced.

Reference

• Judith C. E. Belinfante, Jewish Historical Museum, Haarlem: Joh. Ensched, 1978, p. 34.

• Julie-Marthe Cohen et al. (eds.), Gifts from the Heart, Jewish Historical Museum, Amsterdam, 2004, pp. 116-117.

• Rafi Grafman, Crowning Glory: Silver Torah Ornaments of the Jewish Museum, New York: David R. Godine, 1996, p. 235, item 383.

• Sotheby’s, New York, December 13, 2006, Lot 113; December 15, 2010, Lot 63.