Torah scroll, fine parchment, (Hebrew, Gvil) possibly calf, and ink, probably Lithuania, 1850-1870.

Miniature Torah scroll. Parchment. Wound on ivory (or possibly bone) rollers. The scroll has been restrung with string, not the traditional sinew. The lettering is fine and shows it was written by an accomplished scribe.

Given by Edgar Astaire

The scroll is circa 1850-1870. This is based on the type of script which is not more that 350 years old. The roller of the scroll is inscribed with Bat Sheva me Vilna which shows it came from Lithuania, known as little Jerusalem. Vilnus was a centre of Jewish life.

Contemporary Judaica in Britain
Judaica has always reflected the artistic styles of its time. In the late 19th century ceremonial silver was available through large companies such as Joseph & Horace Savory and cherished pieces were brought into England by the Jews who had fled the pogroms in Eastern Europe. In the first half of the 20th century the two world wars and the Holocaust meant that little Jewish silver was produced. It was not until Jewish communities had become more established that synagogues began to commission new work. The designers were often non-Jewish, as was Professor Gerald Benney, the eminent silversmith who began to make ceremonial objects in contemporary styles in the 1960s. More recently a new generation of silversmiths, including Tamar de Vries Winter, have continued to make ritual objects. Their work has enabled traditional Jewish religious customs and practices to be fulfilled in a modern style.

The scroll ( inscribed on the roller with Bat sheva me Vilna) probably left Vilna (Lithuania) in the 1890s during the time of the first wave of immigrants who left to settle in either the UK, USA or South Africa.

The scroll was probably made in Eastern Europe in the 19th century. It contains the five books of Moses (the Pentateuch): Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The scrolls are wound on rollers called Trees of Life (Azei Hayyim) a reference to Proverbs 3, 18: 'She [the Law] is a Tree of life to them that lay hold upon her; and happy is everyone that retaineth her'.

M.6-2012