A Fine Illustrated Esther Scroll from Amsterdam, ca. 1720

Engraved on parchment, (6 7/8 x 68 in.: 175 x 1730 mm). Text written in square Ashkenazic script arranged in 16 columns with 24 lines to a column. 4 membranes stitched together, preceded by an opening panel with illustrated vignettes. Text flaked. Mounted on a turned wooden roller

This skillfully engraved Dutch scroll was produced in Amsterdam in the first decades of the eighteenth century. Finely detailed narrative scenes from the book of Esther unfold along the lower border and meticulous landscapes are presented in cartouches above the text. The beautifully decorated opening panel contains the benedictions recited before the reading of the scroll, surrounded by a series of illustrations including Esther and Ahasuerus seated on a double throne, the hanging of Bigthan and Teresh, Mordecai refusing to bow down to Haman, Haman leading Mordecai through the streets of Shushan on a horse, Esther and Mordecai writing the Purim letter, and the hanging of Haman and his ten sons.