A Sumptuous Silk Tallit, Germany, 18th century

A Sumptuous Silk Tallit, Germany, 18th century

An elegant ivory silk tallit (prayer shawl) with ornamental square panel of polychrome-patterned brocaded silk appliqué attached to the upper border and with four smaller squares of the same textile attached to the corners surrounding the holes for the tsitsit (fringes). Prayer shawls of this design with a large brocade panel embellishing the top were traditionally worn in Germany; however, very few examples have survived and almost all are in museum collections, such as the Israel Museum (B68.0178) and the Jewish Museum, New York (JM 19-63 and JM 3-69).

Physical Description

Silk damask, appliqué panels brocaded silk, and gilt metal thread braid (54 1/2 x 81 in.; 1385 x 2060 mm).

Literature

Esther Juhasz, The Jewish Wardrobe: From the Collection of the Israel Museum, Jerusalem (Milan: 5 Continents Editions; Jerusalem: The Israel Museum, 2012), 58-59, 319.

Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett with Cissy Grossman, Fabric of Jewish Life: Textiles from the Jewish Museum Collection (New York: The Museum, 1977), nos. 73 and 76.