Wedding Canopy (Huppah), from the town of Bodenbach [Podmokly], Bohemia, 1898

(45 x 50 in.: x 1150 X 1280 mm) Satin. Worn, with some tears. Embroidery in good condition overall; four openings at the corners for Huppah poles; wear to openings.

Maroon and brown velvet and sky-blue satin with dedicatory inscriptions embroidered in golden threads. At center in Hebrew: Kodesh le-Hashem, [5]699 (Sacred to God 1898-9); around the perimeter in German: Gespendet vom isr. Frauenverein / Bodenbach / Zum Regierungsjubiläum 1898 / Gesegnet, die da kommen, im Namen des Herrn! (Donated by the Jewish Women's Society / Bodenbach / for the 50th Anniversary 1898 / Blessed are those who come in the name of the Lord!]. 

This wedding canopy (Huppah) was created for the synagogue in Bodenbach (Czech: Podmokly) a town in Bohemia 90 miles north of Prague. Bodenbach was home to a small community of Jews and in 1887, when there were 162 Jews living in the community, a religious society was formed. This society became the basis of the official Jewish community, which was recognized in 1895. The Bodenbach Women’s Society commissioned this Huppah for the community’s use in 1898 as part of the Empire-wide celebrations associated with the Jubilee year marking the 50th anniversary of Emperor Franz Josef's accession to the throne.