A fine Italian silk embroidered Torah binder late 17th/early 18th century

Lavishly embroidered with scrolling foliage and flowers within leaf tipped borders, centered with the Hebrew inscription "This binder was prepared and designed to honor God and to extol the honourable Devora Cohen me-ha-Hazanim (of the Cantorini family), the wife of the most excellent Hanania Eliakim Franchetti Harari

In Garden and Ghettos, The Art of Jewish Life in Italy, Dora Liscia Bemporad points out  that synagogues in Italy lay claim to a variety of embroidered textiles whose styles and techniques are usually linked to their place of production.  Since the Middle Ages, these wonderful artifacts were created by males and only at the end of the sixteenth century did their making become a fundamental and vital part of a woman's education. These ladies' talents were apparent in textiles used for both domestic and communal purposes. Often, women sought recognition of their handiwork which may be revealed in an inscription, such as the one in this superb example. (p. 124)

Unlike Torah binders of German origin, Italian binders were not connected with the Brit Milah or Bar Mitzvah ceremonies.  Skilfully embroidered with sophisticated colour palettes and designs, Italian mappot included dedicatory formulas and individual prayers of the women who fashioned them. Cecil Roth notes "that from (Renaissance) synagogue architecture we know that Italian women were segregated in a special gallery of the synagogue and according to Jewish Law could not participate fully in the worship service.  But the work of their hands, their Hebrew names, their prayers and hopes, were placed on the small strip of cloth which physically touched the most holy object in the synagogue, the Torah scroll" (Journal of Jewish Art, vol. 7, p. 43, 1980)  These binders thus functioned as a bridge between the woman and the Torah scroll, this most sacred ritual artifact.