NEW YORK, NY.- Sotheby’s annual sale of Important Judaica on 22 December features an outstanding array of Hebrew books and manuscripts, most notably the oldest complete Ashkenazic Torah Scroll, ca. 1270 CE (est. $300/500,000), and a remarkable offering of incunabula – including six of the first Hebrew books ever printed. The exceptional American Judaica section is highlighted by an exquisite nineteenth-century micrographic Shiviti (est. $60/80,000) and the earliest American Ketubbah, New York, 1751 (est. $80/100,000). In addition, the auction will include an important selection of fine ritual silver and metalwork, three works by Isidor Kaufmann, and a recently rediscovered masterpiece by Moritz Daniel Oppenheim. The exhibition will be on view to the public from 16-21 December, alongside the sales of Israeli & International Art and The Valmadonna Trust Library: Part I.

This season, Sotheby’s will present the Sefer Torah (Pentateuch), Manuscript scroll on Parchment, Ashkenaz: Ca. 1270, the oldest complete Ashkenazi Torah Scroll ever offered at auction ($300/500,000). The present scroll is remarkable in that it is one of, if not the earliest, complete Ashkenazic Torah Scroll written in the 13th century. This Sefer Torah provides the earliest and best baseline reference with which to compare all later examples of Torah Scrolls written according to Ashkenazic tradition over the next eight centuries.

A further highlight of the sale is a rare Illuminated Haggadah, [Calcutta, India]: 1868, the only known illustrated manuscript Haggadah from India (est. $175/225,000). The present work was written at the behest of Sassoon Ezekiel Judah, the scion of one of the important families of merchant-traders, for the use of his eight year old son Ezekiel. The entire text is translated into Judeo-Arabic, the vernacular language of the Baghdadi Jewish communities in India, thus assuring that Ezekiel would be able to understand the meanings of the festival rituals, liturgy, and hymns inscribed on the illuminated pages of his own Haggadah. The opening two pages are lavishly illuminated with shell gold and decorated in colored inks and gouache, and allude to Sassoon Ezekiel Judah as the patron of the manuscript.

PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF DR. ALFRED MOLDOVAN
The auction includes several important works from the renowned collection of Dr. Alfred Moldovan, led by an Exceedingly Rare 17th Century Decorated Ketubbah, Modena: 1672 (est. $30/40,000). The present document is one of only a handful of known examples of seventeenth-century decorated ketubbot from Modena. Also from the collection of Dr. Moldovan is the Important Passover Towel, Alsace: 1831, one of only three known towels from the artist; one is in the collection of the Jewish Museum in New York, and the other was sold in 2013 at Sotheby’s sale of the Judaica collection of Michael and Judy Steinhardt (est. $12/18,000). Dr. Moldovan’s collection is further represented in the Silver portion of the sale, with A Bezalel silvermounted brass miniature Torah Ark, Jerusalem, circa 1915 (est. $25/35,000).

AMERICAN JUDAICA
The auction this season offers an extensive group of important examples of American Judaica. A Monumental Micrographic Synagogue Plaque, Abraham Pike, New York: 1856 will be sold to benefit Congregation Adath Israel, San Francisco (est. $60/80,000). This extraordinary micrographic shiviti, using a wide variety of biblical and rabbinic Hebrew texts, was created by an American-born Jewish artist named Abraham Pike in 1856, a rare early example of this art form in the United States. Only one other example of Abraham Pike’s exquisitely rendered micrographic mastery is known, and is in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution.

A further highlight of American Judaica is The Earliest American Ketubbah (Jewish Marriage Contract), New York: 1751 (est. $80/100,000). This rare and important ketubbah is among the most significant surviving documents of early American Jewish history. Though the engraved floral border is modeled on those found on printed ketubbot from Amsterdam and London, this border contains two unique and otherwise unknown illustrations. Also leading the group of American Judaica is Zeh ha-Sefer Tehillim (This Book of Psalms) by Morris (Moshe) Weinberg, Chicago (est. $80/120,000). This monumental Hebrew Book of Psalms was painstakingly crafted by the talented scribe artist Moshe Weinberg over a three year period, from 1910 to 1912. It is an outstanding example of American Jewish calligraphic art in the early years of the twentieth century.

PAINTINGS
The paintings section of the auction is led by three works by renowned artist Isidor Kaufmann, including a rare painting of a synagogue’s interior (est. $80/120,000). Interior of the Holleschau Synagogue comes from the family of Paul Grüninger, a Swiss police commander in St. Gallen who saved some 3600 Jewish refugees from Austria, following the Anschluss. Two portraits by Kaufmann come from the former collection of Max and Lombi Landau of London and Jerusalem, also highlight the paintings portion: Young Man in Hat, Before a Parochet (est. $200/300,000) and Portrait of Hassid with Shtreimel and Tallit (est. $200/300,000).

Another highlight of the paintings section is an early work by Moritz Daniel Oppenheim. Sarah Leads Hagar To Abraham, painted in 1832, is a recently rediscovered oil and a magnificent example of Oppenheim’s Biblical paintings (est. $280/350,000). Until its recent reappearance in Düsseldorf, the only known version of the subject by the artist was the oil study in the collection of the Israel Museum. Rendered in jeweled tones of red and blue, and with sensitivity to the pathos of the moment, the present work was executed eight years after the oil study. The story of Hagar clearly intrigued the young Oppenheim, as he returned to different moments in the saga throughout the 1820s.

SILVER
Further to the Torah Ark from Dr. Moldovan’s collection, the Silver portion of the sale is highlighted by A pair of early Dutch parcel-gilt silver Torah Finials, Peter Van Hoven, Amsterdam, 1709 (est. $50/70,000), and A Continental parcel-gilt silver Torah shield, German or Polish, mid to late 18th century, which features a central portion plaque compartment with plaque inscribed in Hebrew ‘Shabat’ (est. $30/50,000).