Leilão Bidspirit | Gilt Silver Megillah Case Produced

Gilt Silver Megillah Case Produced by Bezalel – Jerusalem, Late 1920s / Dedication to Journalist and Author Pierre van Paassen – Chicago, 1942 - Silver case housing Esther scroll, produced by Bezalel. Jerusalem, [before 1929]. Miniature Esther scroll with dedicatory inscription to Pierre van Paassen, Chicago, June 1942. Silver, sawed and repoussé (marked ”Bezalel Jerusalem” on pull bar); filigree and granulation; gilt. This model of Bezalel cases is uncommon, and was apparently produced in a small number of copies in the last years of the Bezalel school, before it was closed in 1929. Five scenes from the Purim story are rendered on the case in repoussé: Esther bows before King Ahasuerus; Mordechai bows before Esther; the king reads from the annals; Haman leads Mordechai on a horse; Haman is chained in iron. Each scene is surrounded by a clover-shaped frame, with separating pillars. The base and top ornaments are pointed and pentagonal, with small Stars of David and subtle filigree and granulation. Pull bar sewn to edge of first sheet, with small handle and locking device. The Israel Museum collection preserves an ink inscription with a sketch of the decorations in the present case (undated and unsigned). The scroll and dedicatory inscription: Esther scroll in HaMelech format (most columns begin with the word HaMelech), written on 5 parchment sheets pasted together, 30 text columns, 14 lines per column, with Tagim. On the blank area at beginning of scroll is a handwritten dedicatory inscription (English): ”To Pierre van Paas[sen] / indomitable fighte[r] / for justice and f[re]ed[om] / V / Committee for a / Jewish Army / Midwestern Division / Chicago, Illinois / June 2, 1942”. On the verso is the signature of the scriptorium responsible for writing the dedication: ”Title-inscription by [th]e Scriptorium Chicago”. Pierre van Paassen (1895-1968) – journalist, writer and priest of Dutch origin, active in Canada and the United States – a supporter of the Zionist movement and the Jewish Yishuv in Eretz Israel. Van Paassen was a friend of Ze'ev Jabotinsky and served as national chairman of the Committee for a Jewish Army. The dedication indicates that the committee presented him with the scroll during a visit to Chicago in 1942. Height of parchment: 7 cm. Condition varies. Tears, stains, creases and pieces of parchment lacking from first sheet, mainly to edge, with vertical tear across length amateurishly reinforced with tape. Fading of paint and ink of inscription, affecting some words. Rest of scroll in very good condition. Height of case: 20 cm. Good condition.