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Pair of Torah finials
Made by: Edward Aldridge (first mark 1724, died by 1766)
English (London)
1764
Medium/Technique
Silver, gilded silver
Dimensions
Overall: 53.5 cm (21 1/16 in.)
Credit Line
Jetskalina H. Phillips Fund
Accession Number2019.635.1-2
CollectionsJudaica
ClassificationsRitual objects
Marks
On both staves (from left, upside down): date letter J; leopard's head crowned; lion passant; maker's mark EA.
Maker's mark and lion passant repeated fours times across finials
Some bells marked with lion passant, leopard's head and AB for maker's mark
Maker's mark and lion passant repeated fours times across finials
Some bells marked with lion passant, leopard's head and AB for maker's mark
InscriptionsEngraved on both staves: "Philip Salomons Esq."
Provenance19th century, Philip Salomons (b. 1796 – d. 1867), London and Hove, England. Probably late 1860s/1870s, acquired by the Central Synagogue, London [see note]; June 5, 2019, consigned by the Central Synagogue to Sotheby’s, New York (Important Judaica), lot 3, sold to the MFA. (Accession Date: June 19, 2019)
NOTE: The Central Synagogue found a site for its new building in 1866, and funds were committed beginning in 1868. It probably purchased the finials after Salomons’s death.
NOTE: The Central Synagogue found a site for its new building in 1866, and funds were committed beginning in 1868. It probably purchased the finials after Salomons’s death.
Audio recording of the finials 2019.635.1-2