Two Monumental Decorated Confraternity Membership Plaques [Mantua]:1811, 1854

Two broadsheets (33 x 27 in.; 838 x 686 mm). Ink and gouache on paper. Elegantly matted, glazed, and framed. Not examined outside of frames. Some marginal tears; losses, mostly not affecting text or decoration.

While the hevra kaddisha (lit. holy society) of today is almost exclusively engaged in the rites and rituals surrounding death and burial, early hevrot provided a variety of communal services. These local Jewish fraternal organizations assumed responsibility for a wide range of charitable works, including, but not limited to, supplying clothing and food to the Jewish poor and indigent and providing dowries for poor brides. Some of these societies assumed descriptive names to indicate their primary functions, as is evident from the elegantly decorated membership rolls of the two Mantuan confraternities which comprise the present lot, hevrat matan betulot (society for dowering brides) and hevrat so’aid halashim (society for supporting the weak). While the tasks of these societies differed in their philanthropic undertakings, the creation of these commemorative membership plaques served to honor those in the community who dedicated themselves to these good works. Only a few rare examples of these “holy society” membership plaques remain extant.