Select manuscript from this collection: B26  S91 S94  S102  103/107

Country of Location:
Country of Location
Switzerland
Location:
Location
Zürich
Library / Collection:
Library / Collection
Braginsky Collection
Shelfmark:
Shelfmark
S93
Manuscript Title:
Manuscript Title
Megillah Esther (מגילת אסתר) / Esther scroll
Caption:
Caption
Parchment · 1 f. · h: 40.6 cm · Eastern Europe · 1913
Language:
Language
Hebrew
Manuscript Summary:
Manuscript Summary
This megillah (on three sheets with 10 columns of text) is from Eastern Europe and was probably created at the beginning of the 20th century. The elaborate case was made by Ezekiel Joshua Maisels in 1913 in Dolyna in Galicia (today Western Ukraine). It is covered with carved images, ornaments and Hebrew inscriptions, and contains scenes from the Purim story at the bottom and from the hanging of Haman in the upper part. In the central part, the crown (keter malchut), symbol of royal rule, is held by two winged lions. The double-headed eagle refers to the Habsburg Empire. (flu)
DOI (Digital Object Identifier):
DOI (Digital Object Identifier
10.5076/e-codices-bc-s-0093 (http://dx.doi.org/10.5076/e-codices-bc-s-0093)
Permanent link:
Permanent link
https://e-codices.ch/en/list/one/bc/s-0093
IIIF Manifest URL:
IIIF Manifest URL
IIIF Drag-n-drop https://e-codices.ch/metadata/iiif/bc-s-0093/manifest.json
How to quote:
How to quote
Zürich, Braginsky Collection, S93: Megillah Esther (מגילת אסתר) / Esther scroll (https://e-codices.ch/en/list/one/bc/s-0093).
Online Since:
Online Since
12/10/2020
External resources:
External resources
Rights:
Rights
Images:
(Concerning all other rights see each manuscript description and our Terms of use)
Document Type:
Document Type
Scroll/Roll
Century:
Century
20th century
Dated:
Dated
1913
Liturgica hebraica:
Liturgica hebraica
Megillah
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e-codices · 10/13/2020, 16:15:43

This Esther scroll case is an exceptional work of woodcarving artistry. Few elaborately carved private Jewish ceremonial objects of wood have survived. Eastern European artisans and artists were famed for their creativity and skill in the closely related folk arts of papercutting and carving. Tombstones and synagogue arks are the best known traditional formats for Jewish carving. These carving traditions were closely related to the motifs, interlaces, and patterns of papercut mizrah and shivviti plaques, and to the artistic heritage found in the architecture, interior painting, and carved furnishings of Eastern European wooden synagogues.
This case features lavishly carved vignettes from the Purim story, all inscribed in Hebrew with appropriate verses from the book of Esther. The decoration in the lower section is interspersed with carved Signs of the Zodiac, identified in Hebrew. Two rampant lions ank Esther’s crown in the midsection of the case. The maker carved his name below this crown and at the top of the case.
A double-headed eagle, a symbol of the Austro- Hungarian Empire, is included above one vignette. It is likely that Ezekiel Joshua Maisels, the artist of this piece, moved from Dolina, a small town in Western Ukraine, which was formerly part of Poland and later the Austro-Hungarian Empire, to a larger urban center. There he worked as a woodcarver and had access to a larger group of patrons for his work. As he recorded his name as “of Dolina,” it is likely that by the time of the creation of this piece he had moved to another location where this different place designation would be meaningful. A similar, carved sandalwood Esther scroll case, formerly in the collection of the Rothschild Family, is in the collection of the Jüdisches Museum der Schweiz in Basel.

A Journey through Jewish Worlds. Highlights from the Braginsky collection of Hebrew manuscripts and printed books, ed. E. M. Cohen, S. L. Mintz, E. G. L. Schrijver, Amsterdam, 2009, p. 286.

e-codices · 10/13/2020, 16:11:49

Nur wenige formvollendet bearbeitete und für den privaten Gebrauch bestimmte jüdische Zeremonialgegenstände aus Holz haben die Zeiten überdau­ert. Die Hülse dieser Megilla ist ein hervorragendes Werk der kunsthandwerklichen Holzbearbeitung in Osteuropa. In formaler Hinsicht eng verwandt sind Erzeugnisse der osteuropäischen Volkskunst, die im jüdischen Kontext vor allem die Darstellungen und Ornamente auf Grabsteinen, in Scheren­schnitten oder in den Malereien und geschnitzten Innenausstattungen der berühmten Holzsynago­gen beeinflusste.
Der Schöpfer dieser Hülse stammt aus der Stadt Dolyna, die bis zum Ende des Ersten Weltkriegs dem galizischen Teil des Habsburgerreichs angehörte und heute in der westlichen Ukraine liegt. Darauf verweist der doppelköpfige Adler als Wappen des Hauses Habsburg. Seinen Namen, Ezechiel Josua Maisels, seinen Herkunftsort und das Entstehungsjahr 1913 hat der Künstler an zwei Stellen vermerkt. Eine ähnliche Hülse aus Sandelholz, einst in der Sammlung der Familie Rothschild, befindet sich im Jüdischen Museum der Schweiz in Basel.
Die Oberfläche des Holzzylinders ist über und über mit geschnitzten Bildern, Ornamenten und hebräischen Inschriften bedeckt. Unter den Szenen aus der Purimgeschichte im oberen Teil ist die Hängung Hamans mittels einer mechanischen Zugvorrichtung besonders originell dargestellt. Im Mittelteil symbolisiert die von zwei geflügelten Löwen gehaltene Krone (keter malchut) die Königsherrschaft. Darunter verleiht der die Darstellung von Mordechais Triumph rahmende Zodiak diesem eine kosmische Bedeutung.

Schöne Seiten. Jüdische Schriftkultur aus der Braginsky Collection, Hrsg. von Emile Schrijver und Falk Wiesemann, Zürich 2011, S. 324.

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A Journey through Jewish Worlds. Highlights from the Braginsky collection of Hebrew manuscripts and printed books, ed. E. M. Cohen, S. L. Mintz, E. G. L. Schrijver, Amsterdam, 2009, p. 286.

Schöne Seiten. Jüdische Schriftkultur aus der Braginsky Collection, Hrsg. von Emile Schrijver und Falk Wiesemann, Zürich 2011, S. 324.

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