|
LOT 67:
Collection of [11] Early Wimpels for Torah Scrolls. France [and other Western European Countries?]. Second Half of ...
more...
|
|
|
Start price:
$
1,000
Estimated price:
$2,000 - $2,500
Auction house commission:
22%
VAT: 17% On commission only
Users from foreign countries may be exempted from tax payments, according to the relevant tax regulations
|
Collection of [11] Early Wimpels for Torah Scrolls. France [and other Western European Countries?]. Second Half of the 19th Century
[11] "wimpels" [cloth belts] for Torah scrolls made from the cloth diaper used at a baby's circumcision, per the custom of Jews of Ashkenaz. Western Europe, the wimpels were made for babies born between 1859-1897.
Description: Various sizes, between 250-360 cm long and 13-22 cm wide. Colorful texts and illustrations. The texts note the name of the baby, his date of birth and the blessing "May Hash-m help him grow to Torah, [and] to marriage and to good deeds, amen, selah." Some illustrations include the French flag and one even includes the text "Wiwa La France." Some of the Wimpels note the baby's name in Latin letters, and one lists a Gregorian date of birth.
Background: Per the custom, the first time a child visited the synagogue at one or three years of age, a small ceremony was held in which this wimpel was presented as a gift to the synagogue. At the child's bar mitzvah celebration, at 13 years of age, the boy was honored by reading from the Torah from a scroll tied with his cloth diaper - wimpel. The custom was first mentioned in the work Minhagei Maharil in 1545 and was practiced in Germany, Bohemia and Moravia, Switzerland and Denmark, through the 19th century.
Condition: Varying conditions, overall fine condition.
