Name/Title
KetubahEntry/Object ID
K_1069Description
Ketubah for wedding of the "expert physician" Yaakov son of the "famed expert physician" Yaakov Chaim d'Ancona and Chavah daughter of the distinguished Baruch Lopes de Leao. Amsterdam, 8th Cheshvan 5593 [1792].
Spanish-Dutch parchment ketubah, set in an ornamental copper-engraved border: In the right and left margins are two vases containing large bouquets, on which various birds and animals are perched. These are topped by images of a bride and groom in contemporary attire (to the right) and a mother with two children (to the left; an allegory of Caritas [charity]).
The text is scribed between two rounded pillars entwined with branches, crowned with an arch. On both sides of the arch are two cherubs holding a drapery bearing the inscription "BeSiman Tov". At the bottom of the engraving is a large Rococo cartouche in which the Tena'im were written. The text of the ketubah and Tena'im are handwritten in Sephardic script. The inspiration for this engraving was the design of two Dutch ketubot created in 1648 and in 1654 by the artist and engraver Shalom Mordechai Italia. Shalom Italia, who arrived in Holland from Mantua, was also known for producing two Esther scrolls and portraits of Jacob Judah Leon Templo and of Menasseh Ben Israel. The ornamentation of this ketubah and the inscription printed at the bottom vary slightly from those appearing on earlier ketubot of this type (compare to Kedem catalog 61, item 96): the attire of the bride and groom which appear in the upper right corner were updated, reflecting fashion changes.
A medallion with the image of a phoenix was added to the bottom of the cartouche and the inscription referring to R. Yitzchak Aboab was replaced with the inscription: "Pertenece ao K. K. de T. T. de Amsterdam Roshodes Kislef A° 5499 D = M" – "Belongs to the Amsterdam Talmud Torah community, Rosh Chodesh Kislev [November] 1738". About one hundred years previously, in 1639, the three Jewish congregations in Amsterdam of Sephardi and Portuguese origin, Beit Yaakov, Neveh Shalom and Beit Yisrael, merged into one congregation named Talmud Torah.
According to Prof. Shalom Sabar, the changes to this ketubah were made on the occasion of the centennial of the Talmud Torah congregation. The signatures of the groom (in Latin characters) and witnesses – Daniel son of R. David HaKohen d'Azevedo and David ibn Yakar Ximenez – are affixed beneath the text of the ketubah. These signatures are repeated at the end of the Tena'im in the lower cartouche. The ketubah text and Tena'im also name the notary. The wedding of Yaakov d'Ancona and Chavah Lopes de Leon is also documented in records of the Sephardic-Portuguese community in Amsterdam (entry 759-378). The Sephardic d'Ancona family, as indicated by its name, originates in Ancona; in the 17th century the family moved to Venice and later Amsterdam.
The present bridegroom (1762-1839) studied medicine in Leiden and served as a physician in Amsterdam. His wife Chavah (Eva), the present bride (1773-1852) was born in Amsterdam and moved to the Hague after her husband's death. R. Daniel HaKohen d'Azevedo, who signed this document as a witness, succeeded his father as Chief Rabbi of the Portuguese synagogue of Amsterdam between 1779-1812.
Literature:
1. Ketubbah: Jewish marriage contracts of the Hebrew Union College Skirball Museum and Klau Library, by Shalom Sabar (NY, 1990), pp. 265-270; item 171.
2. The Oeuvre of the Jewish Engraver Salom Italia, by Mordechai Narkis, in: Tarbitz, Vol. 25, Issue 4, Tammuz 1956, pp. 441-451; Vol. 26, Issue 1, Tishrei 1956, pp. 87-101.
3. HaKetubah BeIturim, by David Davidowitz. Tel Aviv: A. Levine-Epstein, 1979, pp. 21-24.Made/Created
Date made
1792Place
City
AmsterdamCountry
NetherlandsContinent
Europe