A Silver-Mounted Carved Wood Torah Pointer (Yad)

#18369: A Silver-Mounted Carved Wood Torah Pointer (Yad)
Austro-Hungarian, Early 20th Century
Height 13.5cm, width 3cm, depth 3cm
This spiral-twisted Torah pointer, or yad, is used in the synagogue to follow the text during the chanted reading of the scroll. The word yad means "hand" in Hebrew. The wooden handle has a central baluster worked in a twist, set between broad bands carved in relief with raised bosses and bordered by beaded collars. At the top it is capped by a domed silver mount decorated with filigree scrolls and wirework and fitted with a ring and suspension chain. At the lower end it terminates in a silver collar from which issues a small hand with the index finger extended, the pointing hand that gives the object its name.
The pointer was used to hang from the staves of the scroll by its chain. The parchment of a Torah scroll is handwritten by a scribe and is not touched directly, both to protect the ink and lettering and out of respect for the text. Instead, the reader follows the lines by moving the pointer beneath the words. Jewish communities across Europe and the Near East made pointers in silver, wood and other materials. The combination of carved wood with silver filigree, beaded collars and a modelled hand indicates a piece made for presentation as well as for regular use.
The pointer retains its original fitted case; the lid stamped for a retailer in Budapest. Budapest had a large Jewish community and an established trade in Judaica. The case indicates that the pointer was sold in Hungary, and it may also have been made there or elsewhere in the Austro-Hungarian lands.
$3,750