Auction 109 Books | Letters and Manuscripts | Megillot and Jewish Ceremonial Art
Embroidered Fabric Placemat – Baron Wilhelm Carl von Rothschild and His Wife Hannah Mathilde – Frankfurt, 1860
Opening: $1,500
Sold for: $6,875
Including buyer's premium
Embroidered textile donated by Baron Wilhelm Carl von Rothschild and his wife Hannah Mathilde. Frankfurt am Main, 1860.
Embroidery of silver-colored metal thread and yellow silk thread on dark red velvet.
Rectangular fabric sheet, donated to the synagogue and apparently serving as a decoration for a bimah or platform. Dedication embroidered in square letters:
"This was donated by the baron, esteemed, honorable and famous for his reputation and good deeds, R. Shimon Wolf, Baron von Rothschild, and his esteemed wife, the glory of women, Mrs. Hannah Mathilde of Frankfurt am Main, in honor of the holy Torah and in honor of the souls of their esteemed, illustrious ancestors, may their souls rest in the bond of life. And may the merit of the Torah protect them and may their glory be like an olive tree. Made in the year [1860]".
Baron Wilhelm Carl (Shimon Wolf) von Rothschild (1828-1901), grandson of Mayer Amschel Rothschild, was the only member of the family to maintain an Orthodox Jewish lifestyle, and he was a generous supporter of Torah and charitable institutions in the Old Yishuv in Eretz Israel, granting him the moniker "the righteous baron". In 1849 he married his cousin Anselm Salomon von Rothschild's daughter, Baroness Hannah Mathilde.
46X73 cm. Good condition. Light abrasion of velvet. Old stitches to silk thread in dark red around some of the dedicatory inscriptions, apparently old repairs meant to restore the worn velvet.
Various Objects
Various Objects