Keter (Torah crown)

As the law is crowned in Judaism, the Torah wears a crown (Hebrew keter) as its final ornament. Depending on the size of the Torah scroll, the size of the ornament varies. This one is relatively large at 43 cm high and 17 cm in diameter. It is dated to around 1900 and probably comes from a Viennese synagogue. As there is no dedication inscription or inventory number that would identify the object as belonging to a particular place of worship, the history of the object cannot be fully told. This applies to many objects in the collection and is a consequence of the violent dissolution, dispersion and destruction of the Viennese and Austrian Jewish communities in the years 1938 to 1945. Spectacular in any case is the fully sculptured bird with outstretched wings and erect crown. Is it possibly a cockatoo?