Lot 223
  • 223

MINIATURE TORAH SCROLL, [ASHKENAZ: EARLY 19TH CENTURY]

Estimate
20,000 - 30,000 USD
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Description

Scroll of 45 membranes (5 1/2 in. x approx. 52 ft.; 141 mm x approx. 15.9 m) made of parchment; written in Ashkenazic Beit yosef script in dark brown ink with three to eight columns per membrane (membrane widths ranging from approx. 7 7/8 to 23 1/2 in.; 201 to 600 mm) (total: 234 columns) and forty-two lines per column; membrane 42 (Deut. 22:26-26:4) a later replacement, with some small later corrections throughout; horizontally and vertically ruled in hardpoint on the recto; prickings visible along upper and lower edges; justification of lines via dilation or contraction of final letters (average justification: 4 1/8 x 2 3/8 in.; 106 x 60 mm). The Songs of the Sea (column 75 on membrane 15) and of Moses (columns 231-232 on membrane 45) are laid out to look like brickwork (ariah al gabbei levenah and ariah al gabbei ariah, respectively); the custom of vavei ha-ammudim is imperfectly implemented (see column 64 on membrane 13, as well as membrane 42). Ink episodically faded; parchment intermittently creased; some later repairs scattered throughout (see especially membrane 22). Mounted on modern silver rollers and accompanied by a white cowhide Velcro Torah mantle (embroidered in Hebrew “Rejoice and exult in the joy of the Torah,” and surmounted by an embroidered crown) and a black Velcro Torah binder.

Catalogue Note

In order to fulfill the biblical ordinance enjoining every male Jew to write his own Torah scroll, people of means who are not themselves expert in the laws attaching thereto sometimes sponsor a scribe to write one on their behalf. While most communal scrolls used in synagogues for ritual purposes are large and heavy, their privately-owned cousins tend to be diminutive and portable. This allows their owners not only to store them more easily, but also to transport them from place to place. The present lot, executed in miniature, is accompanied by an undersized Torah mantle and binder. Naturally, the degree of proficiency required to produce a small scroll like this one is beyond the ability of all but the most skilled scribes. Torah scrolls of such minute dimensions are thus extremely rare and highly prized.