Torah Ark Curtain and Valance - Wedding Dedication - The Jewish Community in San Francisco, California - Breslau, 1853

Torah Ark Curtain and Valance - Wedding Dedication - The Jewish Community in San Francisco, California - Breslau, 1853
A Torah ark curtain, commemorating the wedding of a Jewish couple in San Francisco during the early years of the Jewish community in the city. Breslau, Prussia (present day: Poland), 1853. / A valance with a dedication from 1831. Velvet and cotton; metal-thread embroidery on cardboard; sequins. The curtain is made of floral fabric and green velvet. A dedication embroidered with silver-grey metal threads appears in the center, on antique-pink background, indicating that the curtain was donated in honor of a wedding held in San Francisco, California, in 1853, to a synagogue in Breslau following the Leszno rite. A Torah Crown is embroidered in metal thread and sequins above the frame. Until 1848 San Francisco was a remote fishing village on the west coast of the United States. When the Gold-Rush began, in January 1848, hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world, including many Jews, started to flow into the town. During the High Holidays of the year 1849, more than 100 Jews were in the town, and in 1850 two Jewish congregations were founded, Emanu-El, where most members were American and German Jews, and She'erit Israel, where most members were immigrants from Poland and England. The synagogues of these two congregations were inaugurated concurrently in 1854. Lack of pre-existing order and social hierarchy permitted Jews to achieve key positions in the city and the Jewish congregation flourished. In 1870 San Francisco was an advanced city with more than 150,000 inhabitants, among them over 15,000 Jews. The valance is made of green velvet in a similar shade to that of the curtain and of a wine-colored floral fabric, decorated with ribbons, flowers and fringes, and an inscription from 1831. Curtain: 198X174 cm. Fair-poor condition. The fabric on the background of the dedication is falling apart. Unraveling and tears. Lacking decorations. Large patch. Most suspension rings are lacking. Valance: 39X158 cm. Fair-good condition. Lacking decorations. Unraveling and wear. Lacking suspension rings.