Sash Buckle for Yom Kippur – “Unetaneh Tokef Kedushat HaYom” – Presumably, Eastern Europe, Ca. Late 19th or Early ...

Sash Buckle for Yom Kippur – “Unetaneh Tokef Kedushat HaYom” – Presumably, Eastern Europe, Ca. Late 19th or Early 20th Century

Silver, stamped, punched, and engraved.
(Marked: "15" and the initials "TB"; markings most likely false); gilt.
Consists of three silver plates; the farthest right and farthest left are both adorned on their outer edges with a fleur-de-lis, and the Hebrew inscription "Unetaneh Tokef / Kedushat HaYom" – the opening words of the famous piyyut recited during the Mussaf prayers of Rosh HsShanah and Yom Kippur – appears on them in relief. The middle plate bears the image of a crouched lion, in relief. The plate on the right is connected to the middle plate by means of a hook, and is thus detachable. The left plate is connected to the middle one by a hinge. The lines of perforations along the edges of the three plates are most likely meant to enable sewing them onto the sash.
Buckles of this type – typically adorned with images of lions or depictions of the Binding of Isaac – would often serve, on Yom Kippur, as a clasp for the avnet, the sash wrapped around the waist, over the kittel, the white robe worn by many Ashkenazi Jews on the High Holidays.
We are unfamiliar with parallel buckles of this particular design, apart from one identical item, part of a private collection in Tel Aviv. These buckles were likely products of the Jewish reawakening of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and a consequent trend toward a renewed interest in the Judaica market (for more on this subject, see the introduction to this catalogue, p. 15; in addition, see next item).

Width: 19 cm. Height: approx. 3 cm. Good condition.

Exhibition: Basel, Jewish Museum of Switzerland, JMS 1046.
Provenance:
1. Peter Castle (1922-2011).
2. Heirs of the above.