Ketubah - Calcutta, 1873

Ketubah on parchment, recording the marriage of the groom Salah be Eliya Yehezkel with the bride Leah Katun bat Ya’akov Shmuel HaCohen. Calcutta, 1873.
Parchment, gouache, ink.
Ketubah of the Baghdadi congregation in Calcutta. Typical frame for the area, with illustrations of birds and flowers, in bright colors. Two striped tigresses with tails turned upwards appear on top, flanking a medallion within which appear letter combinations [psalms 121]. The Ketubah is divided into two – on its upper part are architectural frames with a wavy line pointed at its end. Within the arches appear the blessings in a pyramid-like structure. In the band separating the blessings from the text of the Ketubah, two red fish are drawn swimming one towards the other. The fish, it seems, symbolize fertility and protection against evil eye. The Ketubah text is written in a separate column in the center of the lower part, with witnesses’ signatures.
56X39 cm, good condition. Folding marks. Two small holes on lower part. Creases and tears on margins. Minor spotting. Pasted on paper.
See a photograph of the Ketubah and more information about the Baghdadi Ketubot in Cochin in: Shalom Sabar, “HaKetubah HaMetzuyeret”; in “The Jews of India” (The Israel Museum, 1995), p.14 (photographed).
Objects – Judaica & Israeliana