A Rare Decorated Kabbalistic Shviti. Morocco, 23 Adar 1827. Signed.

A Rare Decorated Kabbalistic Shviti. Morocco, 23 Adar 1827. Signed.

An exceptional artistic and amuletic piece made at the beginning of the 19th century by a Jewish craftsman named Raphael Ghazlan.

The 'Shiviti' was so called from the source of the verse in the Psalms "I have set the Lord before me always".

The creation of such pages began almost 500 years ago. According to custom, if one contemplates the shape of the menorah while reciting Psalm 67, or reads the psalm written in the form of a menorah, the person is transported back to the Temple, standing before its golden menorah and lighting it. To complete the spiritual experience, some of the Temple's other utensils are also Illustrated on the page.

In addition, a promise is written to protect against destructive forces and bad luck.

Shvitis are generally either small individual pages, to be inserted into a prayer book and taken out to recite the psalm, or large pages to hang on the wall of the synagogue for the entire community.

This magnificent and large Shviti is elegantly designed, drawn and hand-painted by a Jewish craftsman from Morocco, who dedicated his work to the man of kindness, Rabbi Masoud Amar, and signed his name - Raphael Ghazlan and the date of completion of his work - 23 Adar [1827].

This rare page combines earth colors, with shades of green and gold, and is full of interesting motifs: the traditional Hamsot, as well as birds, vases of flowers, temple vessels, lions and more. The texts incorporated in it are also special: for example, the verses from the Song of Songs "Buds were seen in the land when a nightingale came and the voice of the Torah was heard in our country".

A rare and impressive piece