Lot 63: A pair of Dutch parcel-gilt silver Torah finials, Willem Rosier, Amsterdam, 1768

of three tiered hexagonal form, the arched windows hung with bells and sectioned by columns, surmounted by a domed roof composed of six arches and a crown and bud form knop, set on plain staves with a central node and inscribed with the Hebrew letters Bet and Gimmel, some bells replaced, struck with Jewish Community of Amsterdam owner's mark and RS 11 (Rapenburgerstraat Synagogue)

height 16 1/8 in. (41cm)

Rapenburgerstraat Synagogue (inventory no. 11)

PROPERTY OF THE JEWISH COMMUNITY OF AMSTERDAM (NIHS)
Situated in the former Jewish quarter of Amsterdam, the building at 109 Rapenburgerstraat was constructed in 1883. The Beit HaMidrash Etz Chaim, a center for Jewish learning founded by the Ashkenazi Jewish Community in 1740, was housed there. The building's main auditorium functioned as the synagogue. Willem Hendrik Rosier (1707-1775) was born a Catholic, the son of Anthoni Rosier and Geertruy Winter. He was accepted into the Amsterdam Goldsmiths' Guild in 1725. He married three times, in 1727, again in 1734 to the widow of a goldsmith, and thirdly in 1762. By the last date he is recorded on the Groenburgwal in Amsterdam, just across a canal from the Jewish quarter. Six sets of Torah finials by Rosier are known: three pairs in the Jewish Historical Museum, Amsterdam, two pairs sold last year, also from the NIHS, and the offered pair.