An 18th-century Italian ketubah (Jewish marriage contract) sold for a record $47,300 at Sotheby’s Judaica sale here Friday.
It was not only the historic value and beauty of the elaborately illuminated document, but the hint of a romantic triangle which may have accounted for the bid.
The sale price was about $16,000 higher than the best price previously offered for such an item, according to a spokesperson for the auction house.
The ketubah, dating from 1732, went to a private American collector. Decorated with birds, flowers, pillars and figures, it is, “a prized possession” of “great dramatic and literary value,” in the opinion of Sotheby’s consultant on Jewish books and manuscripts, Professor Chimen Abramsky of University College in London.
The auction was part of the week-long Judaica Fair attended by dealers and collectors from all over the world, which closed here Friday.
The highest price paid for any one item was a $92,000 hid by an American dealer for an 18th-century German spice box depicting enameled figures each performing a different stage of the “havdalah” service at the close of the Sabbath.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
