The Agam Megillah (Scroll of Esther), Israel: ca. 1980

Serigraph on parchment, signed and numbered 119 of 180. Height: 19 3/4 inches; text written in square Ashkenazic script, arranged in 11 columns on 8 membranes. Minor loss to gold pigment in initial column. Housed in a hexagonal hinged white leather case, lightly scuffed.

A modern decorated megillah by noted Israeli artist Ya'akov Agam. Produced on parchment, this limited edition includes a silk-screened border by the artist, with the text handwritten by a scribe. In this Scroll of Esther, the traditional text is adorned with distinctly modern and brilliantly colored artwork. Agam has also embellished the scroll with abstracted imagery from the Esther story including a scene of Haman leading Mordechai on horseback and a pair of dice, a reference to both the lots that Haman drew to determine the exact date on which to annihilate the Jewish people as well as to the element of chance which is present in the Purim story.