SCHIFF
TORAH ORNAMENTS
Torah Shield (Tas), Torah Finials (Rimmonim), Torah Pointer (Yad)
Silversmith: Lazarus Posen Frankfurt, 1890
Gilded silver, embossed and chased, castings, lapis, enameling, semiprecious
stones, enameling, niello
This magnificent set of ornaments for the Torah scroll was presented to Temple
Emanu-El by Jacob H. and Therese Schiff in commemoration of the confirmation
of their daughter, Frieda, on Shavuot, May 25, 1890. They were used originally
in the Temple Emanu-El synagogue on Fifth Avenue and Forty-third Street, and
subsequently in the present building on Fifth Avenue and Sixty-fifth Street.
Schiff was an outstanding financier and philanthropist; his daughter married
Felix Warburg and continued the tradition of good works.
The architectural form of the heavy Torah shield, with its trio of arches and
couple columns, is a metaphor for the Temple. It seems probable that the enameled
American shield was added to the piece to particularize it for its American
purchasers. The rampant lions, bells, enameled ornaments, deeply chased and
nielloed surfaces, and colored stone of the rimmonim add to the variety of texture
and visual drama.
Gift of Jacob H. and Therese Schiff, 1890
