A Rare Flame-Stitched Torah Mantle, Mantua, late 17th century

A Rare Flame-Stitched Torah Mantle, Mantua, late 17th century

The decorative zigzag pattern employed for this Torah mantle was very popular during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and used to embellish domestic upholstery, such as furniture, cushions, accessories, and shoes. The origins of this style are uncertain, as indicated by the variety of names by which it goes: flame stitch, Bargello work, Florentine work, and Hungarian point. Regardless, the flame-stitch pattern was popular in Italy from the 1600s onward, and this animated, variegated motif was employed to create richly colored textiles for Italian synagogues, such as this extraordinary Torah cover. A small piece of parchment with dedicatory text is sewn to the inside of this mantle and reveals that at one time the textile was paired with a Torah scroll that was donated to the Italian synagogue (apparently in Mantua) by Benjamin Isaac Fano and his brothers. Few synagogue textiles created of flame stitch are still extant. A similar Torah mantle can be found in the U. Nahon Museum of Italian Jewish Art in Jerusalem (ON 0577), and a Torah ark curtain is in the collection of the Jewish Museum of London (JM 33).

Physical Description

Height: 23 in.; 590 mm.

Literature

Andreina Contessa, The Jewish Court of Venice: The Heritage of Jewish Venice 500 Years after the Establishment of the First Ghetto (Jerusalem: U. Nahon Museum of Italian Jewish Art, 2016), 35-36.

Treasures of Jewish Heritage: The Jewish Museum, London (London: Scala Publishers, 2006), 43.