Torah Ark Curtain

This splendid Torah ark curtain, made in Kriegshaber, Germany, is the work of the embroiderer Elkana Schatz Naumberg of Fürth, whose name appears in an inscription in the central bottom section. It is a rare example of the work of male Jewish embroiderers who were active in southern Germany in the early eighteenth century. The curtain’s rich silk velvet material is decorated with vine-encircled, vase-topped columns and a central lushly patterned curtain, mimicking the appearance of the Torah ark itself. Two rampant lions flank the dedicatory inscription, which names R. Judah Leib and his wife Gnendl as the donors. “Keter Torah” (the crown of the Torah) is written at the very top of the curtain. It may have been made in honor of the 1725 rebuilding of the Kriegshaber synagogue, originally established in the 1680s.