Miniature Illustrated Esther Scroll, Rolled on Atzei Chaim – Italy and China, 18th Century

Miniature Illustrated Esther Scroll, Rolled on Atzei Chaim – Italy and China, 18th Century
Illustrated Esther Scroll on parchment. [Italy, 18th century]. Purchased in China in 1794 (see further).
Thin parchment, black and brown ink. Miniature format. Rolled on Atzei Chaim, with a fabric mantle.
The borders of the scroll are decorated with floral motifs. At the beginning of the scroll is an illustrated cartouche with a family emblem at its center: an illustration of a tree with a squirrel leaning on its right side - symbol of the printers Dr. R' Refael Yitzchak Chaim D'Italia, who reinstated the Hebrew printing press in Mantua in 1724, and of his son the printer Dr. Eliezer Shlomo D'Italia, (see: Avraham Ya'ari, Diglei haMadpisim haIvriyyim, Jerusalem 1944, Illustrations 121 and 150, and pages 163-164 and 171).
Following the cartouche is an ornamented square frame encompassing the blessings recited before reading the scroll. The frame is flanked by two flower vases.
At the end of the scroll, the floral decorations are replaced with decorations in the form of grapevines. This section includes the HaRav et Riveinu blessing (recited after the reading of the scroll) followed by the piyuyt "Arur Haman… Baruch Mordechai…" and another piyyut by Rabbi Avraham Ibn Ezra.
Between the end of the scroll and the section with the blessing and the piyyut is an illustration of a hand holding a goblet of wine. The border of the goblet is a micrography, using the words (in Aramaic): “Rava says that a man must drink on Purim until he cannot distinguish between Baruch Mordechai and Arur Haman” (Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Megillah, leaf 7b).
Enclosed in a letter in English, from March 18, 1849 by S.M. Drach [Solomon Moses Drach, an English Jewish scholar. See enclosed material], that attests that this scroll was purchased in China in 1794 by Sir J. Barrow [Sir John Barrow, who was attached on the first British embassy to China from 1792–94]. In the letter is a detailed description of the scroll and an (erroneous) attempt to decipher the year in which it was written.
The scroll is rolled on two Atzei Chaim and covered with a fabric mantle which is very uncommon. A mantle is mentioned in the enclosed letter. Possibly the mantle offered here is a remnant of the original mantle, reconstructed a later time.
Height of parchment: 4.5 cm. Height of the Atzei Chaim:15 cm. Good condition. Few stains, wear and a tiny tears at margins. Coarse tears and damages to fabric mantle.