Torah Mantle

1877/1878

Medium/TechniqueVelvet, lined with cotton, with gold fringe. Embroidered in gold with threads wrapped to resemble jewels

DimensionsOverall: 81.3 x 43.2 cm (32 x 17 in.)

Credit LineGift of Ms. Shelley Katsh and Dr. Mark Gabry in memory of Mrs. Estelle W. and Dr. Abraham I. Katsh—Katsh Family Judaica Collection

Accession number2016.399

On View

Not on view

ClassificationsReligious and cult objects

Collections

Judaica

Provenance1878, presented by Joseph and Rosalea Frank to a synagogue, possibly in Austria [see note]. Between about the 1940s and 1970s, acquired by Dr. Abraham I. Katsh (b. 1907 – d. 1998), New York; by inheritance to his daughter, Shelley Katsh, Pawtucket, RI; 2016, gift of Shelley Katsh and Mark Gabry to the MFA. (Accession Date: September 28, 2016)

NOTE: Inscribed in Hebrew: “Gift of Joseph Frank and his wife Rosalea, 1878.” It is not known precisely when or where Dr. Katsh acquired the torah cover. He traveled extensively to Russia, Eastern Europe, and Israel beginning in the 1940s.