Large, Elegant and Rare Ketubah – Colorful Parchment Cut Depicting the Binding of Isaac and the Zodiac Signs – ...

Large, Elegant and Rare Ketubah – Colorful Parchment Cut Depicting the Binding of Isaac and the Zodiac Signs – Venice, 1800 – Fonseca and Ashkenazi Families

Decorated ketubah, made of a parchment cut, for the wedding of Eliyahu, son of Moshe Ashkenazi Fonseca and Esther, daughter of Eliyahu son of Avraham Ashkenazi. Venice, Italy, 14 Nisan 5560 [April 9, 1800].

Parchment cut. Ink and paint.

Written on a large parchment sheet, its upper edge elegantly shaped in an undulating pattern. The text of the ketubah appears in the center, in square letters, below which appear the Tena'im in cursive script. In the margins of the ketubah and Tena'im appear the signatures of the groom and two witnesses, in Latin characters: "Elia Aboaf Fonseca qm. [quondam] Moise, Abram Jona, Jona Semazia".

Decorated in a symmetrical pattern, in bright colors, masterfully trimmed into figurative and typographic images; the text of the ketubah is surrounded by illustrations of vegetables and flowers, drawn on the parchment sheet, incorporating thirteen round medallions meticulously cut into figurative images: the top central medallion depicts the scene of the Binding of Isaac, along with a Biblical verse from the scene, while the other medallions depict the twelve signs of the zodiac.

The top part incorporates a typographical parchment cut with the blessing "with an auspicious sign and good luck" in gilt letters cut over a red lace background in a vegetal pattern, while the outer margins, surrounding the ketubah document, integrate a typographical parchment cut yet more delicate, including verses from the Book of Ruth (4:11-12) in red letters cut over a golden parchment cut background.

A few known ketubot are decorated with parchment cutting, including ketubot from Lugo (see Lot 23 of this catalogue) and Ancona, but not from Venice.

92.5X 67.5 cm. Overall good condition. Stains and creases, mainly to margins. Marginal tears, some with pieces of parchment missing, professionally restored, generally not affecting parchment cut.

For more ketubot with parchment cut decorations, see: Ebrei a Lugo, I Contratti Matrimoniali (Imola: Galeati, 1994); René Braginsky Collection, K96, K105; Sotheby's, New York, April 29, 2013 (the Steinhardt Collection), Lot Nos. 101-102.