The Art of Matrimony: Thirty Splendid Marriage Contracts from The Jewish Theological Seminary Library

Wednesday, December 25, 1816
Groom: Moses Hayyim Zemah son of Raphael Samson Morpurgo
Bride: Rachel daughter of Solomon Moses Sonino
Ink, watercolor, and gold paint on parchment
27 5/16 x 19 11/16 in. (69.4 x 50 cm)
The Library of The Jewish Theological Seminary KET 60

The text of every ketubbah begins with the day of the week on which the wedding took place, often written in large letters. In this example, the ceremony occurred on Wednesday, a customary day for weddings because Jewish courts met on Thursdays. Should the groom wish to claim that his bride was not a virgin, he could go to court on the morning after his wedding. Fridays were also favored because hosts could combine the traditional week of nuptial feasts (the sheva berakhot) with Sabbath meals.

A reference in the text to a Christian document containing the dowry arrangements reflects the custom of Jewish couples in Italy and Amsterdam of creating a secular legal document to confirm their financial obligations. The decorative program of flowers and birds was characteristic of ketubbot from Ancona, beginning in the early eighteenth century.

Ink and gold paint on parchment
7 1/2 x 16 1/2 in. (19.1 x 41.9 cm)
The Library of The Jewish Theological Seminary ENA 3306

This fragment is one of the earliest surviving examples of a decorated ketubbah. It was discovered in the Ben Ezra Synagogue of Cairo, among the thousands of documents collected in the genizah (a repository for discarded texts in Hebrew script). The Cairo Genizah has proven to be a treasure trove of information on medieval life in the eastern Mediterranean. The text that survives here consists of several lines of blessings and good wishes, which form a preamble to the actual contract. The decoration, though far less elaborate than later examples, is evidence of the joy with which weddings have been greeted in all generations.

Friday, September 6, 1737
Artist and scribe: Abraham Elijah son of Eliezer Fano
Groom: Zemah son of Ephraim Segal Ostiglia
Bride: Bathsheba daughter of Ishmael Ottolenghi
Ink, watercolor, and gold paint on parchment
36 3/4 x 26 in. (77.3 x 49.5 cm)
The Library of The Jewish Theological Seminary KET 8

Even after the advent of Hebrew printing in the fifteenth century, members of the Jewish community continued to commission scribes to write Hebrew manuscripts such as Torah and Esther scrolls and phylacteries. These scribes were also responsible for the creation of superbly calligraphied ketubbot. The vast majority of this scribal production is unsigned. However, in a highly unusual example of artistic revelation, an inscription at the bottom of this ketubbah identifies the artist and scribe as Abraham Elijah son of Eliezer Fano. We have no other extant examples of the work of this talented individual.

The contract was created for Zemah Ostiglia, a member of one of the wealthiest Jewish families in Mantua. In 1558 Pope Paul IV permitted the Ostiglia family to establish one of the very few private synagogues in Mantua; it remained in existence until the early twentieth century.

Wednesday, January 10, 1680
Groom: Aaron Eliezer son of Raphael Cohen
Bride: Esther daughter of Israel Maestro
Ink, watercolor, and gold paint on parchment
33 1/4 x 23 in. (84.5 x 58.4 cm)
The Library of The Jewish Theological Seminary KET 3

Sephardi Jews fleeing the expulsions from Spain and Portugal were the first to establish a Jewish community in Ragusa at the end of the fifteenth century. As was customary among Sephardim, this document combines two texts: the marriage contract on the right and the tena’im (articles of engagement) on the left. The tena’im typically include the contents of the dowry as well as special stipulations, such as a proviso prohibiting the husband from taking a second wife unless a divorce is issued to the first wife and all sums due her are fully paid.

The double arch, frequently used as a framing device in decorated ketubbot, may represent a symbolic portal through which the bridal couple enters into a new sanctified stage of life.

Friday, May 30, 1749
Groom: Judah [Leon] son of Jehiel mi-Salom
Bride: Rachel daughter of the late Moses Hai Curiel
Ink, watercolor, and gold paint on parchment
30 5/8 x 21 1/2 in. (76.7 x 54.6 cm)
The Library of The Jewish Theological Seminary KET 45

The decorative program of this elaborate ketubbah is characteristic of Venice and the surrounding environs. The floral border contains the twelve signs of the zodiac, as well as implements from the ancient Jerusalem Temple in the corners, which appear to express the hope for a messianic redemption. An intricate love knot that has no beginning or end is a frequent design element on Italian ketubbot, borrowed from Italian folk culture.

In the unusually romantic engagement articles, the bride and groom “agree to conduct their mutual life with love and affection, without hiding or concealing anything from each other; furthermore, they will control their possessions equally. However, in case of a quarrel, God forbid, between them, they shall follow the customs of the Ashkenazim in Venice in this matter.” The latter stipulation was inserted because the contract celebrates a “mixed” marriage between a Sephardi bride and a non-Sephardi, presumably Ashkenazi, groom.

Thursday, March 31, 1729
Groom: Aaron son of Joseph De Pinto
Bride: Sarah daughter of Jacob De Pinto
Copper engraving, ink, watercolor, and gold paint on parchment
15 3/4 x 12 7/8 in. (40 x 32.2 cm)
The Library of The Jewish Theological Seminary KET 263

Most of the ketubbot created in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were decorated by hand. However, in Amsterdam in the late 1640s the famed Jewish artist Shalom Italia designed an elegant copperplate engraving for a ketubbah border. It served as the model for a similar version by an unidentified engraver, seen here. For over 200 years, versions of this printed border were used throughout the western Sephardi diaspora. To further enhance the document, it was frequently hand-colored.

Two images representing the ideals of marriage appear in the upper corners: a young couple dressed in elegant attire and the personification of Charity, a popular motif in Baroque art. Over the course of the two centuries that this ketubbah design was in use, its images were periodically updated to reflect events and changing fashions and tastes. For example, in 1693, after the death of Rabbi Isaac Aboab da Fonseca, renowned leader of the Amsterdam Portuguese community, his name was added to the lower border of the engraving as a commemorative tribute.

Friday, October 29, 1756
Groom: Isaac Hayyim son of Solomon Hayyim Sanguini
Bride: Rosa daughter of Joseph Hai Nahman
Ink on parchment
29 15/16 x 19 7/8 in. (76.0 x 50.5 cm)
The Library of The Jewish Theological Seminary KET 269

This ketubbah is a magnificent example of the cutout technique employed by Jewish artisans in northern Italy for ornamented ketubbot and Esther scrolls in the eighteenth century. Directly above the text is the traditional wish “with a good sign and the best fortune.” The term “good sign” (mazal tov) is a reference to the zodiac signs that frame the text as well as a wish for good luck.

Wealthy Jews from Italy and other cities in Western Europe often designed family emblems in imitation of courtly coats of arms, and employed them on their Judaic possessions. Artists decorating ketubbot routinely left space for the insertion of these emblems. Within the cartouche at the top of this contract are the crests of the two families being joined in marriage. The rampant lion beside a tree at right is most likely the emblem of the Sanguini family while a bird drinking water from a hanging vessel at left belongs to the Nahman family.

Monday, November 28, 1864
Groom: Isaac son of Michael Daniel
Bride: Sarah daughter of Hayyim Moses
Ink and watercolor on paper
17 1/4 x 12 3/8 in. (43.8 x 31.4 cm)
The Library of The Jewish Theological Seminary KET 438

Jews had lived in the Kurdish town of Irbil since the later first millennium BCE. In 1864, when this ketubbah was drawn, there were about 300 Jewish families in the town. This rare surviving example from Irbil shows a close affinity to both Kurdish and Iraqi decorative schemes. The composition of three arches enclosing blessings for the bride and the groom is found on Baghdadi ketubbot. The earth tones, however, and the simple running geometric patterns are more reminiscent of Kurdish contracts. While it is customary to include biblical citations as decorative elements on ketubbot, an unusual verse here describes the creation of Eve and the ideal of marriage (Genesis 2:23–24).

Friday, March 20, 1885
Artist and scribe: Moses son of Yeshu’ah(?)
Groom: Phinehas Gad son of Asher
Bride: Gouhar daughter of Mordecai
Ink, watercolor, and gold paint on paper; colored paper strips
31 1/4 x 29 3/4 in. (79.4 x 75.6 cm)
The Library of The Jewish Theological Seminary KET 301

This contract may be attributed to a known Isfahani ketubbah artist, Moses son of Yeshu’ah, or perhaps to one of his students. The decorative program, including the cypress tree flanked by two rampant lions, with a personified sun rising behind them, is typical of Isfahani work of the 1880s. The lion with the sun has been Persia’s venerated national symbol since antiquity, and its use by Isfahan’s Jews is an expression of their deep identification with their long-time home.

Friday, August 20, 1790
Groom: Salem son of Musi Amar Al-Levi
Bride: Sarah daughter of Isaac son of Abraham Al-Kara Al-Hamdi
Ink and watercolor on paper
16 3/8 x 10 7/8 in. (41.6 x 27.6 cm)
The Library of The Jewish Theological Seminary KET 319

This decorated ketubbah from San’a is the only eighteenth-century Yemenite contract to be ornamented with an architectural frame, a motif common elsewhere on ketubbot since the earliest examples from the Cairo Genizah. The motif of facing birds (as well as dragons, tigers, or lions) is common in Islamic art, especially that of Iran and Central Asia. In the Jewish world, the design of this marriage document is most closely related to Persian ketubbot, in particular those of Isfahan.

Friday, March 29, 1912
Groom: Babai called Nisan son of Joseph
Bride: Deborah daughter of Hanina
Book-form: Ink, watercolor, and gold paint on paper
12 1/2 x 8 3/8 in. (31.8 x 21.3 cm) (open)
The Library of The Jewish Theological Seminary KET 338

This book-form ketubbah comes from a small Jewish community just east of Teheran. Decorated marriage contracts in booklet form were popular among Muslims from the second half of the nineteenth century, and their decoration and form undoubtedly exerted influence on the early twentieth-century ketubbot of the area.

This ketubbah comprises twelve pages, four of which are devoted to the contractual text. Many additional settlements appear on the following pages. The decoration was prepared before the text was added and, as was typical, the first two pages, shown here, are the most richly ornamented.

Thursday, November 14, 1867
Groom: Joseph son of Reuben
Bride: Zipporah daughter of Raphael
Ink and watercolor on paper
22 1/4 x 18 3/8 in. (56.5 x 46.7 cm)
The Library of The Jewish Theological Seminary KET 270

Throughout the nineteenth century, the city of Herat was home to the largest and most influential Jewish community in Afghanistan and a leading center of ketubbah decoration. The bold colors and upper row of Islamic-style arches are characteristic of Herat contracts. The model for this architectural format may have been the interior decoration of Muslim and Jewish homes in Central Asia; it may therefore allude to the creation of the couple’s new home. Among the witnesses’ signatures at the bottom right is that of Barukh Shabbetai, a renowned holy person and miracle worker from Jerusalem whose help was sought by both Jews and Muslims.

Sunday, September 4, 1870
Groom: Ezekiel Hai son of Salah Ezekiel
Bride: Farha daughter of Shelioh Ezra Eliah
Ink and watercolor on paper
23 x 16 3/4 in. (59 x 42 cm.)
The Library of The Jewish Theological Seminary KET 467

The two fish in the center symbolize fertility, as expressed in Jacob’s blessing to Joseph’s sons Ephraim and Manasseh: “May they increase [literally, swarm like fish] into a multitude in the midst of the land” (Genesis 48:16). Additionally, according to rabbinic lore fish are considered symbols of good luck and protection against the evil eye because they are concealed by the water and thus immune to its destructive power.

The inscriptions within the two arches begin with an invocation of God the merciful, an expression which is found on many ketubbot created in Islamic societies. This description of God is also found at the start of each sura (chapter) of the Qur’an. The attraction of Jews to this characterization of God is likely due to its prevalence among the society at large.

Wednesday, August 27, 1879
Groom: Ezekiel son of Moses
Bride: Hannah daughter of Joseph
Ink, watercolor, and gold paper on paper
23 x 18 in. (58.4 x 45.7 cm)
The Library of The Jewish Theological Seminary KET 443

The transmission of Jewish folk-art traditions over long distances is clearly demonstrated in this unusual ketubbah. While the text indicates that the couple wed in Jerusalem, the bold geometric design is characteristic of ketubbot in only one city, Akhaltsikhe in Georgia, Western Asia. One can conclude, therefore, that this contract was illustrated in Jerusalem by a craftsman who had emigrated from Georgia. He in turn may have been influenced by decorative schemes from several communities in Islamic lands, in particular Iraq and Iran.

Friday, June 12, 1885
Groom: Elijah son of Joseph
Bride: Golsom daughter of Menahem
Ink, watercolor, and gold paint on paper
25 5/8 x 18 7/8 in. (65 1/2 x 48 cm)
The Library of The Jewish Theological Seminary KET 474

Vivid colors and lush floral motifs highlighted with gold are characteristic of marriage contracts created in Damascus in the second half of the nineteenth century. The paradisiacal garden that is evoked through the floral imagery echoes the blessing that is bestowed upon the couple as they stand under the bridal canopy: “Grant perfect joy to these loving companions, just as You made your creations joyful in the Garden of Eden.”

Wednesday, February 12, 1896
Groom: Isaac son of Masoud son of Elijah son of Moses called Essebagh
Bride: Simhah daughter of Elisha son of Yahya son of Elisha son of Elisha called Nahmani
Colored lithograph and ink on paper
24 1/2 x 18 13/16 in. (62.2 x 47.8 cm)
The Library of The Jewish Theological Seminary KET 447

In the second half of the nineteenth century printed ketubbot began to be published in several countries as inexpensive alternatives to hand-illustrated commissions. This lithograph border was widely used by Moroccan Jews in the late nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries, when Meknès was one of the most important Jewish communities in Morocco.

Several elements indicate that the ketubbah celebrates a wedding in the community of Megorashim (those who had been expelled from Spain). The heart-shape motif in the border can be traced to medieval Sephardi contracts. In addition, it contains a request to God to have mercy upon and protect the exiled community of Castile, Spain.

The two blessing hands, inscribed with the Priestly Benediction, were undoubtedly selected not only for their priestly symbolism, but also for their amuletic and protective connotations, especially popular in Morocco.

Friday, September 24, 1830
Groom: Judah son of Raphael Abraham Salto
Bride: Ora daughter of Abraham Colombarel
Ink, watercolor, and gold paint on paper
25 1/2 x 18 in. (64.8 x 45.7 cm)
The Library of The Jewish Theological Seminary KET 155

This colorful ketubbah type was popular in Constantinople for a number of decades in the nineteenth century. It is characterized by crowded vegetation, flowers painted in bright colors without outlines, and gilt borders and inscriptions. The traditional wedding verse, “he who finds a wife finds a good thing” (Proverbs 18:22) appears in the central panel.

Thursday, March 16, 1769
Groom: Joseph son of Moses
Bride: Bobosh daughter of Abraham
Ink, gouache, and gold paint on paper
29 5/16 x 17 in. (74.5 x 43.2 cm)
The Library of The Jewish Theological Seminary KET 351

This contract was created for a Karaite couple living in the Crimea. The Karaites were a group of Jews who, beginning in the eighth century, rejected rabbinic interpretation and only accepted the earlier biblical tradition as binding. Their main centers were in the Crimea, Istanbul, Jerusalem, and Cairo. In the Middle Ages, Karaites constituted a sizeable portion of the Jewish population, but in later times their number dwindled considerably.

Unlike the traditional (rabbinic) marriage contract, which is written in Aramaic, the language of the Karaite ketubbah is Hebrew. The text follows the rabbinic formula to a certain extent, but contains some clauses that are markedly different. The style of the ornamentation, however, is firmly within the artistic traditions of Jewish communities under Islamic rule.

Sunday, September 20, 1863
Artist and scribe: Zemah Davidsohn
Groom: Nathan son of Jehiel
Bride: Deborah daughter of Eliezer
Ink and watercolor on paper
12 1/2 x 9 3/4 in. (31.8 x 24.8 cm)
The Library of The Jewish Theological Seminary KET 105

Many of the decorative schemes on the ketubbot in this exhibition represent well-known regional types. However, Zemah Davidsohn, the artist who wrote and decorated this small page, created an original composition in which every element had meaning.

The two large interlocked circles symbolize the marital union, as do the clasped hands. Both clocks show the same time, 6:13. This number reminds traditional Jews of the 613 commandments contained in the Bible, an appropriate motif for the establishment of a new Jewish household.

1911
Artist: Roberto Melina
Publisher: Abraham Hochman
Chromolithograph
16 x 20 in. (40.7 x 50.7 cm)
The Library of The Jewish Theological Seminary KET 403

In this colorful document, the text has been overshadowed by the elaborate decorative scene. At the center, a pair of parted red curtains suggestive of a Jewish marriage canopy provides a dramatic cutout frame for a picture of the bride and groom.

The location of the ceremony was Central Palace Hall, 66–68 Sheriff Street. Once described as “the headquarters of love,” Sheriff Street, in the heart of New York’s Lower East Side, was the site of a number of wedding halls. The proprietor of the hall, “Professor” A. Hochman, was known as “the Wizard of the East Side.” A self-proclaimed prophet, he publicized his expertise in mind-reading, dream interpretation, astrology, and palmistry. He used these skills to predict the future, recover lost or stolen property, and, most famously, locate husbands who had deserted their wives and children.