Torah Finials

According to their tradition, the Jews arrived in Cochin, on the southwest coast of India, before 379 CE and maintained a vibrant community until the recent emigration to the State of Israel depleted their ranks. Over the centuries, the community assimilated many Indian customs, including a division into castes whose members did not intermarry and who maintained their own synagogues: the White Jews, the Black Jews, and the Freedmen (manumitted slaves and their offspring). According to a letter in the possession of Jakob Michael, the previous owner, these rimmonim, or finials for the Torah, belonged to the White Jews' synagogue; however, similar finials were also used by the Black Jews. The finial at right bears an engraved inscription reading: "Solomon Hallegua, m[ay he rest in] peace." The Halleguas are a well-known family of Cochin Jews.

Though resembling each other in technique and form, these rimmonim are not a pair. They differ in size and in details of their decoration. It was the usual custom of the Cochin Jews to place a single rimmon like one of these atop the silver or gold case (tik) in which the Torah scroll is permanently stored. This custom differs from that of other Oriental and Sephardic communities, who always place pairs of rimmonim on their Torah cases.

Other unusual features of these finials are their material, thin sheets of gold affixed to base metal supports, and their decoration with bands of floral ornaments executed in repoussé. These aspects reflect local Indian influence. Thin plates of silver and gold attached to base metal supports are traditionally used by Indian silversmiths to decorate large objects like furniture. Their repoussé ornaments were often fashioned from the same molds used for more base metals such as copper and brass. Therefore, close parallels for the bands on these rimmonim appear on the backplates of copper and brass lamps made in southern India. The cutout relief on all these works creates an ornamental effect of light and shade, which enhances the decorative motifs engraved and chased on the metal. Finally, the conical finial of these rimmonim is another feature borrowed from Indian lamps. The finial shown on the right was originally one of a pair given to the Indian government during the Indo-Chinese War. It was later sold by the government and subsequently entered the collection of Jakob Michael.