Pair of Silver Torah Finials – Maurice Mayer, Silversmith to Emperor Napoleon III – Paris, 19th Century

Pair of Torah finials by silversmith Maurice Mayer. [Paris, ca. 1860].

Silver, repoussé, stamped, cut, and pierced. Marked with French fineness marks, and with maker’s marks: "M. Mayer" within a lozenge frame and additional mark "Mce. Mayer".

Tall Torah finials, designed as towers with tall, pointed, polygonal spires topped with flame-shaped ornaments. Each body consists of six sides, each pierced with a large arch supported by architectural columns. The center of each arch features a Star of David, functioning as a hanger for a bell. Matching horseshoe arches are pierced into the spire panels.

Silversmith Maurice Mayer (b. 1801) was active in Paris from 1839 (his personal maker’s mark was registered in 1846). He signed his works with the title "Maurice Mayer Orfèvre de l'Empereur Paris" (Silversmith to the Emperor [Napoleon III]). His work was exhibited and awarded at various 19th-century Parisian expositions, and his Judaica objects are kept in prominent public and private collections, including: three pairs of Torah finials, two Torah shields, and a Torah crown in the Jewish Museum of Paris (mahJ); a Torah case and pair of Torah finials in the Jewish Museum New York (inv. no. S 1456a, b, c; Grafman no. 378); and a Sefirat HaOmer plaque in the Skirball Museum, Los Angeles.

For other work by Mayer, see: Sotheby’s, December 22, 2015, Lot 117; June 5, 2019, Lot 70; and April 29, 2013, Lot 248 (the Steinhardt Collection).

Height: 45 cm. Max. width: 9 cm. Overall good condition. Minor bends and fractures. Slight corrosion. Sections soldered together.