Mastery of Design: The “Mazel Tov” Ring, 1800

The Victoria & Albert Museum

This filigree ring of gold wire is set with a plate engraved with the inscription “Mazel Tov.” The plate, actually seems to be a later addition to the ring which originally dates to 1800. In Hebrew, “Mazel Tov” loosely translates to “Good luck.”

A ring such as this would have served as a ritual gift, given during the Jewish marriage ceremony. Though this practice has been a part of the ceremony since ancient times, it is only documented since the Fifteenth Century.

Antique Image of the Day: Hanukkah, 1944

The Victoria & Albert Museum

The image, printed in black, on the front of this postcard depicts four concentration camp inmates behind a makeshift Hanukkah menorah. Within this sober image, the word Hanukkah (in Hebrew) and the year, “1944” are lettered.


This postcard was issued by the Jewish organization Agudat Jiszrael (Union of Israel) in Budapest in 1945. The image was designed by Felix Gluck in 1944. Gluck had fled his native Bavaria for Budapest in 1936 to escape the Nazis, but was imprisoned in Mauthausen--a forced labor camp in Austria, from 1944 to 1945. The card, now, not only chronicles the atrocities that Jewish people faced before and during the Second World War, but also their innate sense of hope and admirable dedication to their beliefs.

Mastery of Design: A Jeweled Torah Crown, 1825

The Victoria & Albert Museum

An elaborately jeweled crown, this treasure is probably from the court of the Hassidic leader Rabbi Israel Ruzhin (1797-1850). Such crowns were crafted by Hassidic Jews in Eastern Europe as adornment for the Torah—indicating the importance of the text. This crown’s size suggests that it was made for a personal Torah scroll.


The Torah is central to the Jewish faith--the first five books of the Hebrew Bible or the Pentateuch. The Torah is written, traditionally, on a scroll which is wound on rollers called “Trees of Life” (properly, “Atzei Hayyim”). A crown such as this would have surmounted the rollers to demonstrate the majesty and the law of Torah.

This crown was bequeathed to the V&A as part of the Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection. We’ve seen many items from the Gilbert family here at Stalking the Belle Époque. Sir Arthur Gilbert and his wife Rosalinde formed one of the world's great decorative art collections, including silver, mosaics, enameled portrait miniatures and gold boxes. Many of the snuffboxes we have examined are part of this collection. Arthur Gilbert's family, the Bernsteins, were successful Jewish immigrants, who had moved to London from Poland in the 1890s. This crown was a treasured family item and is one of the centerpieces of the collection.

The base of the crown is pierced and chased with scrolling foliage, punctuated with three beaded ovals bearing diamond Hebrew initials standing for the Mishnaic expression commonly used on Torah ornaments "(C)rown of (T)orah, (C)rown of (P)riesthood, (C)rown of (K)ingship.”

Trailing sprays of flowers set with table-cut rubies and emeralds, rose-cut diamonds and cabochon turquoises add to the object’s opulence. Six openwork arches chased with foliate sprays rise from flower-heads with amethyst centers to form the mid-section. Each arch is applied with alternating designs of flowers set with rose diamonds, cabochon turquoises and table-cut rubies, spaced by six eagles, each with a diamond-studded head and wings and a floral tail set with diamonds, rubies and an amethyst. Suspended in the beak of each eagle is a bell with a chased foliage canopy and beaded rim, the clapper set with a ruby.

The upper section rises from symmetrical pairs of chased wings which are formed from six leaf-chased panels overlaid with floral designs of diamonds, rubies and emeralds. Each panel is spaced by bell-flowers hung with an oval ruby surrounded by six small ruby drops and suspended from foliate sprays of rubies and diamonds.

The finishing touch at the top is a diamond-set basket filled with a variety of gold flowers with turquoise, ruby and diamond centers. Three larger flowers (en tremblant, or on wires allowing for the jewel to move or "tremble") complete the piece—one is set with an old mine diamond weighing approximately 1.80 carats and two are set with rose diamonds each of approximately 1 carat.

The crown’s original contoured red leather case is tooled with gilt foliate designs and remains in excellent condition.

Mastery of Design: The “Mazel Tov” Ring, 1800

The Victoria & Albert Museum

This filigree ring of gold wire is set with a plate engraved with the inscription “Mazel Tov.” The plate, actually seems to be a later addition to the ring which originally dates to 1800. In Hebrew, “Mazel Tov” loosely translates to “Good luck.”


A ring such as this would have served as a ritual gift, given during the Jewish marriage ceremony. Though this practice has been a part of the ceremony since ancient times, it is only documented since the Fifteenth Century.

Unusual Artifacts: Rimmonim, circa 1680

The Victoria & Albert Museum

These attractive rimmonim of silver filigree are hung with six gilt bells with petals from which, also, six bells are suspended. They are surmounted by crown-shaped finials with five branched fleur-de-lys from which more bells are hung.


Rimmonim (literally, “pomegranates”) are the finials that top the most sacred object in the Jewish faith, the Torah scroll, which is wound on rollers called the “Trees of Life. The scroll is kept in a rigid case or covered by a cloth mantle for protection.

The torah is the focal point of the synagogue--kept in the Holy Ark (Aron ha-Kodesh). On Sabbaths, Mondays, Thursdays and holy days the Torah is removed from the ark and read in front of the congregation.

These particular rimmonim probably come from a magnificent Torah mantle that was made for the Sephardic synagogue in Amsterdam in the late Seventeenth Century.

Antique Image of the Day: Hanukkah, 1944

The Victoria & Albert Museum

The image, printed in black, on the front of this postcard depicts four concentration camp inmates behind a makeshift Hanukkah menorah. Within this sober image, the word Hanukkah (in Hebrew) and the year, “1944” are lettered.


This postcard was issued by the Jewish organization Agudat Jiszrael (Union of Israel) in Budapest in 1945. The image was designed by Felix Gluck in 1944. Gluck had fled his native Bavaria for Budapest in 1936 to escape the Nazis, but was imprisoned in Mauthausen--a forced labor camp in Austria, from 1944 to 1945. The card, now, not only chronicles the atrocities that Jewish people faced before and during the Second World War, but also their innate sense of hope and admirable dedication to their beliefs.

Gifts of Grandeur: A Silver Yad, c. 1797

The Victoria & Albert Museum

A “yad” is a pointer used in Jewish worship to motion to or touch the Torah. This silver Yad ends in the shape of a hand—a traditional form for such items. This yad features a cylindrical handle with a fluted band round the middle, and a suspension ring for hanging.


The yad helps the reader to follow the sacred text of the Torah (the scroll containing the Pentateuch--the first five books of the Hebrew Bible). Yads are usually made of silver, and sometimes set with precious stones on the index finger of the pointer. When not in use, the yad is hung over the breastplate that is suspended from the staves of the Torah.

Mastery of Design: A Jeweled Torah Crown, 1825

The Victoria & Albert Museum

An elaborately jeweled crown, this treasure is probably from the court of the Hassidic leader Rabbi Israel Ruzhin (1797-1850). Such crowns were crafted by Hassidic Jews in Eastern Europe as adornment for the Torah—indicating the importance of the text. This crown’s size suggests that it was made for a personal Torah scroll.


The Torah is central to the Jewish faith--the first five books of the Hebrew Bible or the Pentateuch. The Torah is written, traditionally, on a scroll which is wound on rollers called “Trees of Life” (properly, “Atzei Hayyim”). A crown such as this would have surmounted the rollers to demonstrate the majesty and the law of Torah.

This crown was bequeathed to the V&A as part of the Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection. We’ve seen many items from the Gilbert family here at Stalking the Belle Époque. Sir Arthur Gilbert and his wife Rosalinde formed one of the world's great decorative art collections, including silver, mosaics, enameled portrait miniatures and gold boxes. Many of the snuffboxes we have examined are part of this collection. Arthur Gilbert's family, the Bernsteins, were successful Jewish immigrants, who had moved to London from Poland in the 1890s. This crown was a treasured family item and is one of the centerpieces of the collection.

The base of the crown is pierced and chased with scrolling foliage, punctuated with three beaded ovals bearing diamond Hebrew initials standing for the Mishnaic expression commonly used on Torah ornaments "(C)rown of (T)orah, (C)rown of (P)riesthood, (C)rown of (K)ingship.”

Trailing sprays of flowers set with table-cut rubies and emeralds, rose-cut diamonds and cabochon turquoises add to the object’s opulence. Six openwork arches chased with foliate sprays rise from flower-heads with amethyst centers to form the mid-section. Each arch is applied with alternating designs of flowers set with rose diamonds, cabochon turquoises and table-cut rubies, spaced by six eagles, each with a diamond-studded head and wings and a floral tail set with diamonds, rubies and an amethyst. Suspended in the beak of each eagle is a bell with a chased foliage canopy and beaded rim, the clapper set with a ruby.

The upper section rises from symmetrical pairs of chased wings which are formed from six leaf-chased panels overlaid with floral designs of diamonds, rubies and emeralds. Each panel is spaced by bell-flowers hung with an oval ruby surrounded by six small ruby drops and suspended from foliate sprays of rubies and diamonds.

The finishing touch at the top is a diamond-set basket filled with a variety of gold flowers with turquoise, ruby and diamond centers. Three larger flowers (en tremblant, or on wires allowing for the jewel to move or "tremble") complete the piece—one is set with an old mine diamond weighing approximately 1.80 carats and two are set with rose diamonds each of approximately 1 carat.

The crown’s original contoured red leather case is tooled with gilt foliate designs and remains in excellent condition.