Large Pair of Torah Finials – Turin, Italy, Late 18th Century

Large Pair of Torah Finials – Turin, Italy, Late 18th Century

Silver, cast, repoussé, punched, and engraved.
Hallmarks: · Municipal mark of the city of Turin; · Mark of assayer Bartolomeo Bernardi, active Turin (1778-1816).
Tall Torah finials, in the form of hexagonal, three-tiered towers, tapering upward, with a roof in the shape of a hexagonal shingled spire, surmounted by a double-handled vase filled with flowers. The sides of the finials, their shafts, and their bases are all adorned with rocailles and other vegetal patterns characteristic of the 18th century. Three adornments associated with the Temple in Jerusalem are engraved onto the lower tier: the showbread laid out upon its table, the Jar of Manna, and the seven-branched Menorah. Architectonic pillars (pilasters) protrude at the corners of each tier, and a dozen long chains with bells at their ends are suspended from the bottom tier. The shafts are tall and cylindrical, widening bottomward, and supported on broad, dome-shaped bases. Hebrew inscriptions engraved along the rims of the bases, identical on both finials: "Yehoshua Boaz son of Avraham Hai of the Barukh family". The name "Yehoshua Boaz ben Avraham of the Barukh family", or, by his Italian name, Salvador Boniforte De Benedetti, is mentioned in a number of documents originating from the Piedmont Region of Italy; according to these documents, he was born in the Piedmontese municipality of Nizza Monferrato in 1739.

Height: 50.5-51 cm. Diameter at base: 9 cm. Old repairs.

References: Vittore Colorni, Judaica Minora, Milan, 1991, pp. 1-5; Renata Segre, The Jews of Piedmont, vol. 3, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, 1990, item nos. 3146 and 3277. See also National Library of Israel (NLI), item no. 990026129770205171 of the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) Collection.
Exhibitions:
1. Glasgow, Festival of Jewish Arts Exhibition, McLellan Galleries, 1951, item no. 239.
2. Basel, Jewish Museum of Switzerland, JMS 1001.
Provenance:
1. Collection of Solomon David Schloss (1815-1911).
2. Lewis Raphael Castle (1858-1932), son of the above.
3. Peter Castle (1922-2011), grandson of the above.
4. Heirs of the above.
This item appears in the inventory list of the Schloss Collection, dated 1923 (see appendix, pp. 146-148), and is documented in a 1931 collection photograph (see p. 11).