Prized artefacts from the Sassoon family collection will go on sale in New York this December, including two pieces billed as the most important pieces of Judaic metalwork to be brought to auction in a generation.
Sixty eight pieces from the Sassoons – known as the “Rothschilds of the East” – will include rare silvers, Hebrew manuscripts, textiles dating from the 11th to the 20th centuries.
The centrepieces of the lot will be two highly decorative 18th century silver Torah shields which originate from Lviv in modern-day Ukraine and, according to the auction house, Sotheby’s, can be attributed to Jewish silversmith Elimelekh Tzoref. When a similar shield was sold in Tel Aviv in 2000 it achieved the then record-breaking price of almost $800,000 (£927,000 today).
Also on sale is a Siddur once owned by Rabbi Joseph Hayyim, a 19th century master kabbalist and halachic authority for Iraqi Jewry – expected to fetch up to $200,000 (£153,000). Rabbi Hayyim’s tefillin – said to be the only ones known to still exist – will also be on offer.
“The exceptional pieces in this sale are treasures of one the world’s greatest Jewish dynasties and significant works of art which tell an important story of Jewish patronage, collecting and scholarship at the highest level,” said Sharon Liberman Mintz, Senior Consultant of Books and Manuscripts at Sotheby’s.
“Not only are the Silver and Hebrew manuscripts some of the finest objects to ever come to market, they are further distinguished by their unparalleled provenance to generations of members from this legendary family.”
Originating in Baghdad, the Sassoon family established a far-reaching trading empire that stretched across Asia, becoming the world’s richest family in the 18th century. The family built Jewish communities wherever they established trading outposts, including in Bombay, Shanghai and Hong Kong.
In the 1800s, the Sassoons became prominent members of British high society, receiving knighthoods and a baronetcy. The family company was heavily involved in the shipment of opium and cotton.
The two Torah shields on offer were owned by Reuben David Sassoon, Victorian businessman and one-time treasurer of Baghdad, who once lent them to the Royal Albert Hall for an 1887 exhibition on Anglo-Jewish history. Sotheby’s claimed the December auction will be the first time they have been shown publicly since 1906. Other pieces in the collection were acquired by Reuben Sassoon from the holdings of Philip Salomons, described by Ms Mintz the earliest English collector of antique Judaica.
An avid bibliophile, during the early 20th century, David Solomon Sassoon travelled the world collecting rare manuscripts, the most notable of which was the 12th century Farhi Bible, a codex purchased in Aleppo, Syria. At its height, the collection numbered well over 1,000 works, but many have since been sold off. Some were acquired by the British Library.
Rabbi Hayyim’s siddur is unique in that it includes several notes and comments written by the rabbi himself. John Ward, Head of Sotheby’s silver department in New York, said many of the tomes were bought in Bond Street in the early 1900s.
