Purchased with funds from Margaret and Douglas Abrams, Marion and Stanley Robboy, Connie C. and Robert D. Shertz, Laura and David Brody, Joan and Kalman Cohen, David C. Falk Sr., Elizabeth Kanof Levine and Ronald Levine, and other Friends of the Judaic Art Gallery
Willem Hendrick Rosier was admitted to the Amsterdam Goldsmiths’ Guild in 1725. Like most Dutch artisans of the period, Rosier was Christian. His Torah finials in the NCMA collection are one of only six pairs (attributed to him) that are known to exist.
Once part of the treasury of Amsterdam’s Grote Synagoge (Great Synagogue), these finials were looted by the Nazis during World War II. They were recovered after the war and returned to the Dutch Jewish community. Unfortunately the Great Synagogue never reopened, and the finials were eventually consigned to auction, where they were purchased by the NCMA in 2006.
These Torah finials, or rimmonim, resemble the architectural elements of the steeple on Amsterdam’s Oude Kerk (Old Church). The term “finials” describes the silver covers on the Torah’s staves, or wood handles. Finials are a common element used in architecture, furniture, and home decor. They can be made from a variety of materials, and they commonly appear on churches, schools, and homes. Finials are used on items such as fence posts, handrails, flag poles, and weathervanes. On furniture, finials are often used on bedposts, at the ends of curtain rods, and as decorative tops of cabinets. Finals come in many shapes and sizes, including spears, domes, steeples, fruits (such as pineapples), tree blossoms, and flower blooms.
tags: communication, function, pattern, repetition, ritual, sound
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