Lot 130
  • 130

A RARE AND MONUMENTAL HUNGARIAN SILVER-GILT TORAH SHIELD, JOHANNES MATHIAS ROTH, BUDAPEST, CIRCA 1800 |

Estimate
80,000 - 120,000 USD
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Description

  • marked on front of back plate
  • height 20 in.
  • 51 cm
the back plate chased with swags of fruit and with overlapping piastres, fronted by pairs of free-standing columns supporting lions holding shields, all below a double dome hung with bells, and topped by a double eagle finial, with elaborate chain of quatrefoil links

Condition

Lacks portion plaques in center, also a ribbon below eagle split and minor loss of lower right of back plate. One lion is possibly a later addition.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Catalogue Note

After centuries of oppression and persecution, including as recently as 1746 the expulsion of the Jews from Buda, with the accession of Joseph II the Hungarian Jewish community found its position improved and stabilized.  A 1783 decree by the new Emperor removed most of the oppressive regulations for the community, and allowed them to settle freely in most of the country.  In 1790-91, Emperor Leopold II confirmed their position and gave them Imperial protection.  This new status allowed great prosperity and luxury, also in synagogue furnishings, and many displayed the Habsburg crown and double-headed eagle in recognition of their benefactors. Johannes Mathias Roth, or Reth, became a master in Budapest (Buda) in 1775 and worked until 1807.  In addition to this Torah Shield and an impressive Torah Crown with Finials also in this collection (lot 17), he was recorded in 1936 as the maker of a faceted beaker in the Jewish Museum in Obuda, shown in an exhibition there in 1935, no. 34 (Kószegy no. 341, pp. 58-59).

This Torah Shield is very similar to one by János Muhály Schwager, marked for Pest, 1779, in the Hungarian Jewish Museum and Archives in Budapest.  Like Roth, Schwager had also made an oval Torah Crown with attached finials (see Ilona Benoschofsky and Alexander Scheiber, The Jewish Museum of Budapest, 1987, no. 37, pp. 80-81, and no. 34, pp. 76-77).