An Important Illustrated Esther Scroll [Germany, 18th Century]

Ink and gouache on parchment, (5 ½ x 60 ½ in.; 140 x 1536 mm). Text written in square Ashkenazic script arranged in 14 columns with 30 to 31 lines to a column, preceded by an opening panel with illustrated vignette. 3 membranes glued together. Housed in a wooden case with integrated roller handle and matching wood pull. Minor hole in first text column expertly patched on the verso. Columns 10-12 with creases and ink flaking; some minor losses to ink and pigment throughout; opening panel soiled.

This illustrated Megillat Esther is one of three exceptional early-eighteenth-century scrolls from Germany featuring similar decorative programs. The most striking shared characteristic of these remarkable scrolls are the sprawling cityscapes strikingly portrayed in the opening panels of each megillah.  Each bears the caption Statt Susonn written in Latin letters, identifying the city as Susa, the capital of the ancient Persian Empire, which served as the setting for the events of the biblical Book of Esther. We are aware of only two other scrolls with this distinctive feature. The first is the exquisite Esther Scroll of the Gross Family Collection (reproduced in a limited edition facsimile by Linda and Michael Falter, Facsimile Editions Limited, London: 2007.) The other scroll is in the collection of The Library of The Jewish Theological Seminary in New York (S44.) Though only the Gross Family scroll includes additional figural representations, the floral decorations that surround the text columns on all three scrolls have led scholars to the inevitable conclusion that all three are by the same unknown artist.