A Rare French Silver Torah Shield from Alsace, Burcard, probably Mulhouse, dated 1858
Auction Closed
December 15, 09:26 PM GMT
Estimate
7,000 - 10,000 USD
Lot Details
Description
A Rare French Silver Torah Shield from Alsace, Burcard, probably Mulhouse, dated 1858
cartouche form, embossed with swags of flowers and crossed fronds, roses at the base, hung with three bells, with Hebrew inscriptions and dates, fitted with six gilt single-sided portion plaques, marked at base Burcard twice
Height with bells 12 in. (30.5 cm)
Along the sides and below: “Alexandre Dreyfus, with his wife Brendel Weil. Schlettstadt, [5]618 [1858].”
Sélestat, or Schlettstadt in German, is a town in Alsace in Eastern France, between Strasbourg and Mulhouse and just 11 miles from the Rhine and the German border. The inscription probably refers to Alexandre Dreyfus, a cloth merchant, born in Rixheim in 1796, and his wife Babette Weil, born in Bühl, Baden-Württemberg. They had at least nine children. She died in 1860 and he in 1878, both in Sélestat.
A dynasty of silversmiths named Burcard was active in Alsace in the 18th century, with most sources giving their location as Mulhouse; this piece was presumably made by a continuation of the same firm.
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