A Magnificent decorated Esther Scroll, from Bahgdad ca. 1850

Scroll (height: 3 3/4 in.; 95 mm). Ink and gouache on Parchment, written in 17 columns on 5 membranes stitched together. Twenty one lines to a column. With two additional decorative introductory opening panels. Mounted on a turned metal roller; silver gilt octagonal case decoratively engraved, domed cap surmounted by a coral bead finial.

A Journey through Jewish Worlds: Highlights from the Braginsky Collection of Hebrew Manuscripts and Printed Books. Cohen, Mintz and Schrijver eds. 2010 pp.272-273 : Jewish Tradition in Art, the Feuchtwanger Collection of Judaica. Dr. Yesha'ayahu Shachar, Jerusalem, 1971, p. 158 # 417; The Stieglitz Collection: Masterpieces of Jewish Art, Chaya Benjamin, Jerusalem, 1987 # 191.

Written in a fine Hebrew square script, this richly decorated Esther scroll features two lavish opening panels embellished with floral motifs and a verse from the book of Esther. These panels introduce the heroine and hero of the Purim story, the first panel is inscribed in monumental letters “The scroll of Esther the Queen” and the second panel contains the verse “There was a Jew in Shushan the the capital, whose name was Mordecai the son of Jair the son of Shimei the son of Kish, a Benjaminite” (Esther 2:5). A frame of multihued floral motifs runs the entire length of the scroll on the upper and lower border and surrounds the text panels. The scroll is mounted on a turned and shaped cylindrical revolving handle; encased in a silver gilt octagonal case engraved with scrolling foliage, the matching thumb-piece decorated similarly, and the engraved domed top surmounted by a coral bead finial. This is one of five known Esther scrolls in public and private collections ornamented with a comparable decorative program; it is likely that all were written and decorated by the scribe Isaac Meir Hayyim Moses Gabbai from Baghdad, who also wrote and illustrated, in 1854, a Haggadah (known to have been in the collection of the late Prof. Meir Benayahu, Jerusalem).

Literature: A Journey through Jewish Worlds: Highlights from the Braginsky Collection of Hebrew Manuscripts and Printed Books. Cohen, Mintz and Schrijver eds. 2010 pp.272-273 : Jewish Tradition in Art, the Feuchtwanger Collection of Judaica. Dr. Yesha'ayahu Shachar, Jerusalem, 1971, p. 158 # 417; The Stieglitz Collection: Masterpieces of Jewish Art, Chaya Benjamin, Jerusalem, 1987 # 191.