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In Rabbinic literature, sivlonot refers to gifts the groom gave his wife-to-be. Among German Jews, from the 16th century on, sivlonot took the form of belts: the groom sent his bride a belt with a gold buckle; she sent him a belt with a silver buckle. The couple would then wear the belts under the huppah, sometimes attaching them by means of another belt or a chain. Sivlonot belts were often decorated with universal symbols of love, such as two intertwined hands holding a heart, or the portraits of a man and woman.

Credit: The Feuchtwanger Collection, purchased and donated by Baruch and Ruth Rappaport, Geneva

Details

  • Title: Sivlonot belt
  • Creator: Unknown
  • Date Created: 1760
  • Location: Frankfurt, Germany
  • Type: Belt
  • Rights: The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Photo © Israel Museum, Jerusalem, by Ofrit Rozenberg Ben-Menachem
  • External Link: Israel Museum, Jerusalem
  • Medium: Silver, cast, engraved and pierced
  • Dimensions: L: 95; W: 5.8 cm
  • Curator: Raccah-Djivre, Daisy; Assaf-Shapira, Efrat

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